Banning cars from JFK Drive is exclusionary

by Howard Chabner

On a warm, sunny day it’s easy to roll the two blocks from my home to Golden Gate Park in my power wheelchair, and it’s delightful to be in the middle of JFK Drive with no cars around. So I understand why those fortunate enough to be able to get there, to walk long distances, and to bike, enjoy it so much. But banning cars from eastern JFK has made it effectively impossible for countless people, and much more difficult for many others, to get there and visit attractions such as the Conservatory of Flowers, Dahlia Garden, Rose Garden, Stow Lake and Boathouse, SkyStar Observation Wheel, California Academy of Sciences, and de Young Museum. The photos promoted by RecPark, MTA, and the Chronicle of people enjoying car-free JFK are powerful. But there are no photos of those who have been excluded - there can’t be any, because they aren’t there.

Driving is the only feasible way for many people to get to Golden Gate Park. Pre-pandemic, a high percentage of visitors were from outside San Francisco; some were from places with no public transportation, and others where it would be a long and complicated journey on public transportation. Some were tourists staying in the Bay Area but far from San Francisco. For San Franciscans from further neighborhoods such as Bayview, Hunters Point, Excelsior, and Crocker-Amazon, driving is the only realistic option. The CalAcademy surveyed its visitors before the pandemic and found that a significant percentage were from outside San Francisco, a significant percentage drove there, and many had disabilities. Attendance at the CalAcademy and the de Young has dropped dramatically since cars were banned from JFK, even as normalcy in general returns.

Those who rely on cars include: seniors; people who can’t walk far or get tired easily; families with small children who bring food, picnic gear and sports equipment; and photographers who need to bring their equipment. The world-renowned Dahlia Garden is maintained entirely by volunteers, many of whom are seniors; the car ban has made it burdensome for them to bring their plants and supplies.

Many disabled people, especially those with mobility disabilities, rely on cars to get to the park. I’m lucky to live nearby, and my power wheelchair can go miles on a charge. But I can’t roll there in cold, foggy or rainy weather, or at night. Other disabled people don’t live nearby, or walk precariously, or can’t walk far, or require assistance. The car ban has effectively shut many of them out.

MIG, a respected architecture, planning, and access firm, was hired by the de Young to investigate the impact of closing eastern JFK to cars, and the resulting removal of accessible parking spaces, on disability access to the museum. MIG concludes: “By removing free accessible parking in the immediate vicinity of the museum and by not providing equivalent free parking within a reasonable travel distance to the museum, the City is reducing program access and is not meeting its obligations under title II of the ADA. Alternative methods of accessing the museum, including passenger drop-off areas, the park shuttle service, and walkways within the park, all have identified barriers to accessibility and do not negate the need for accessible parking spaces.” 

Mayor Breed, every Supervisor, MTA director Jeff Tumlin, RecPark director Phil Ginsburg, these agencies’ employees and boards, Mayor’s Office on Disability director Nicole Bohn, and many other City officials and employees have had this report for over a month. None has commented on it publicly.

MIG’s assignment, and therefore its report, was limited to the impact on access to the museum. But essentially the same facts, analysis, and conclusions also apply to the City's ADA obligations regarding other places and programs on and near eastern JFK, including the Conservatory of Flowers, Dahlia Garden, Rose Garden, Stow Lake and Boathouse, and nighttime events.

At least four individuals with disabilities, including me, filed disability civil rights complaints with the US Department of Justice. Several, including the late good government and disability rights activist Bob Planthold, filed similar complaints with the California Department of Justice. These complaints are currently pending.

MTA and RecPark tout an MTA opinion survey purporting that the majority of San Franciscans favor keeping the car ban. But the decision about JFK Drive isn’t a popularity contest – among other things, it’s a civil rights issue. The ADA is a civil rights law, and civil rights laws have been enacted to protect an entire class of people who have experienced discrimination and exclusion, and who are being denied equal access and opportunity. The closure of JFK Drive to cars is a violation of the ADA and California disability rights laws.

Even if one puts more weight on public opinion than civil rights, consider:

• Per MTA, only 38% of survey responses from respondents with disabilities favored car-free JFK, as did only 38% of respondents age 65 and above.

• An analysis by Michael Cawthon, an experienced data analyst and regulatory examiner, of the survey database shows major flaws in the survey methodology and tabulation of the results, including duplicates, tabulation errors, filling in missing data, elimination of some responses that are probably valid, and the submission and acceptance of over 500 online surveys after the deadline. The late responses overwhelmingly supported car-free JFK. Paper surveys didn’t ask about disabilities, so the number of people with disabilities who oppose banning cars is probably undercounted. Latinos, Blacks, Asians and Pacific Islanders were underrepresented in the survey responses relative to their proportions of San Francisco residents, as were certain geographic areas.

• On February 18, 2022, the Mayor’s Disability Council devoted an entire meeting to JFK Drive and extended it by nearly two hours so more members of the public could be heard. There were ASL (as there always are), and Chinese and Vietnamese interpreters. Literally dozens of commenters described the hardship the car ban has caused them and asked that cars be allowed on JFK again, and there were many similar comments in the chat. The mitigation measures promoted by MTA and RecPark didn’t change anyone’s mind. Only two commenters supported the ban. The comments at that meeting are consistent with the many verbal comments and emails MDC has received over the past couple of years, the overwhelming majority of which opposed banning cars. These are links to a recording and transcript of the meeting.

The Chronicle conducted an online survey. Respondents favored reopening JFK to cars by around a 2 to 1 margin. The survey is flawed, but not necessarily more flawed than the MTA survey. The Chronicle is strongly biased in favor of the car ban (it even published an editorial supporting the ban), yet the survey results came out in the opposite direction from the Chronicle’s bias.

RecPark, MTA, and their allies emphasize the Music Concourse Garage as a solution. But the garage:

• Doesn’t provide access to the Conservatory of Flowers, Dahlia Garden, Rose Garden, Stow Lake/Boathouse, and other places for people who can't walk far.

• Doesn’t address many people’s need to remain in their cars while viewing nighttime events such as the light shows. This problem would remain no matter how late the garage is open. (And what conceivable justification could there be for banning cars at night?  This question has been asked many times but never answered by any elected official or City employee.)

• Doesn’t solve the problem of access to nighttime events even for those who feel comfortable leaving their cars, because it closes at 7 PM.

• Doesn’t address the needs of people who can't be dropped off by themselves because they need assistance or are at risk of falling.

• Is expensive.

• It is sometimes full, particularly when there are major events and exhibits.

Many people don’t feel safe or comfortable in an underground garage after dark. This is a problem with the current closure time, and would remain a problem if the hours were extended.

Garage capacity is around 800 cars. Garage capacity plus the closed part of JFK was around 1,300 cars. Banning cars from eastern JFK eliminated around 500 parking spaces that were usable by the general public, including disabled people. Disabled people don’t park only in blue zones; they park in regular parallel parking spaces that don’t have obstructions.

For the second year in a row, the car ban excluded many people from the Winter Lights shows and other nighttime events. For those with mobility disabilities who don’t live nearby, for those who walk with difficulty and precariously, for those who cannot walk far, for those who don’t do well in cold and windy weather, and for able-bodied people who live in areas poorly served by public transportation, it’s impossible to view the light shows without a car. For example, because of my muscular dystrophy I don't do well in cold weather, and it just isn't feasible or healthy for me to roll there at night. Winter evenings and nights are cold and often windy, and this past December – fortunately – rainy. Many require the shelter and safety of being in a car. And many, including some women alone, don't feel safe walking in the park after dark.

The shuttle isn't a solution. Does RecPark really expect people with disabilities, seniors, families with small children and women alone, to wait in the cold, darkness, wind, and rain for a shuttle?  To risk being passed up because the shuttle is full?  To risk missing the last shuttle?

Even during the day it’s not feasible or fair or healthy to ask seniors, disabled people, families with small children, and people carrying equipment and other bulky items to wait for a shuttle when it’s cold, rainy or windy. Even in good weather, it’s burdensome for people who come from far away and already have had a long, complicated journey, to wait for a shuttle. Even during the day and in good weather, a shuttle is just too physically demanding and tiring for many people.

Mayor Breed’s April 27, 2020, press release announcing the ban stated: “The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department will close JFK Drive to vehicular traffic from Kezar Drive to Transverse Drive until the Stay Home Order is lifted."  (Emphasis added.)  Contrary to what she promised, although the Stay Home Order was lifted in January 2021, the ban remains.

Besides being exclusionary, banning cars from JFK has increased traffic, congestion, and pollution in the surrounding neighborhood streets, which MTA hasn’t even acknowledged or seriously studied.

There’ve been parking buffered bike lanes on both sides of JFK for a decade. There are wide, paved sidewalks on both sides.

Enough is enough. It’s long past time for Mayor Breed and the Board of Supervisors to end the ban and reopen JFK Drive and its attractions to everyone.

Howard Chabner is a disability rights activist and retired lawyer who has lived along the Panhandle since 1988.

MARCH 2022