Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Log In
Streetsblog SF

And the Bay Area’s Most Bad-Ass Advocacy Group of 2016 is…

8:21 AM PST on January 5, 2017

A group walking to City Hall to remember the fallen on our streets. Photo: Streetsblog

Over the holidays, we ran several national Streetsie award polls. Locally, we asked readers to vote on the Bay Area's most Bad-Ass Advocacy Group of 2016. And the winner is... Walk San Francisco!

From Nicole Ferrara, the groups Executive Director:

Our members, coalition partners, staff and board work tirelessly day-in and day-out to transform our streets into safe, enjoyable places for everyone, and I'm thrilled to share this honor with the Walk SF community! This award symbolizes the growth in walking advocacy organizations across the U.S., and we're proud to be part of that movement.

Survivor Jim Jones with Walk SF's Executive Director, Nicole Ferrara, on the "Day of Remembrance" Photo: Streetsblog
Survivor Jim Jones with Walk SF's Executive Director, Nicole Ferrara, on the "Day of Remembrance" Photo: Streetsblog

As we stated previously, Walk SF, in one way or another, is behind all sorts of improvements all over town. They keep the pressure on the mayor and the city to make things safer; they have been a major force in pushing Vision Zero.

What's next? In 2017, the fight for Automatic Speed Enforcement is going to be key. Streetsblog has had a few unofficial conversations with lawmakers, both in San Francisco and Sacramento, about a possible work-around for state prohibitions against their use (more on that in a future post). But it's already clear that Walk SF's advocacy work is key to getting these cameras in place. And as a Streetsblog commenter pointed out, Vision Zero will be impossible to achieve if we can't get cars to follow the speed limit.

Walk SF won by 39 percent of the votes. A wholehearted congratulations to Walk SF, Nicole Ferrra, Cathy DeLuca, Natalie Burdick, and the entire staff and board for your hard work.

It's worth noting that SFMTrA, the guerrilla safety group, came in a close second, with 33 percent. One of its leaders, who will remain anonymous, said previously in an interview with Streetsblog: "We've all done our civic duty and due diligence to make things better within the system and we all got frustrated...the next thing to do is take direct action."

Whatever the approach, congrats, again, to Walk SF and all the runners up. All of the contending groups are amazing and go above and beyond the call of duty. As Ferrara put it in an email to Streetsblog: "There are so many strong transportation advocacy groups in SF and the Bay Area, and I'm glad to be part of that network and know that we will continue to make a strong impact as we work together towards shared goals."

Streetsblog expects great things from all of the groups and is looking forward to working with them and covering their efforts in 2017.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

Caltrans Readies Guidance for Complete Streets, with a Big Exemption

But somewhere along the way, highway interchanges - roads crossing and going under and over freeways and highways - were exempted from the guidelines

September 29, 2023

Guest Opinion: Ten Years In, CA Active Transportation Program Lays Bare a Tale of Two Agencies

L.A. County needs to embrace physically-protected bikeways, robust traffic calming around schools, and similarly transformative, safety-focused projects

September 29, 2023

Commentary: Let’s Talk About the Real “Fatal Flaw” on Valencia

How many people have to die before professional advocates stop endorsing the Valencia Street "experiment" on people?

September 29, 2023

Friday’s Headlines

Caltrans, we need complete streets everywhere, including at freeway interchanges (or maybe especially there); Public agencies and academics join forces to develop AV standards; Republicans really want to suspend the gas tax; More

September 29, 2023
See all posts