SAN FRANCISCO—On Wednesday, December 16, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) announced in a news release that it has proposed a 20 mph speed limit in a neighborhood known as the Tenderloin District
The Tenderloin’s current speed limit is 25 mph, and if approved, the speed limit will become 20 mph. The SFMTA said that studies have shown that reducing the speed limit “greatly improves a pedestrian’s chance of survival in the event of a collision.”
Matt Haney, a member of the SF Board of Supervisors, “has been working closely” with the SFMTA on this as well as “other city departments, the Tenderloin Traffic Safety Task Force and community members to address public health issues and unique challenges in the neighborhood through innovative interventions,” the SFMTA stated.
Haney said “Tenderloin and SOMA residents and visitors” are “more likely to get hit by a car than any other neighborhood,” in a December 16 tweet.
In addition, he tweeted that “speed and traffic changes came from Tenderloin residents,” who have “fought” and “organized around them and prioritized them.”
The agency said this proposal is important because the Tenderloin is home to “vulnerable communities including historically marginalized groups such as people with disabilities, residents of SROs and supportive housing and limited-English proficient communities,” as stated in the press release.
The SFMTA noted that the Tenderloin would be “the first neighborhood in San Francisco to have widespread speed reductions” if approved.
