Closing the top 10 gaps in San Francisco’s Core All Ages and Abilities bicycle network

We have limited resources—both financially and politically. This proposal focuses on building smart in the highest-impact places for an All Ages and Abilities network we can be proud of—one that spans the city’s neighborhoods, is achievable in the near term, and is useful for residents and visitors alike.

Data like the Strava heat map and SFMTA bike counters show most people riding a core All Ages and Abilities network today—yet current SFMTA projects, and the 2025 Biking and Rolling Plan and North Star network, continue to be a patchwork of individual street projects and rarely prioritize finishing the core All Ages and Abilities network—even as most San Franciscans still don’t feel cycling is a safe option on our core All Ages and Abilities routes.

A Caltrans-funded UC Berkeley study—built specifically to help agencies avoid, as Caltrans puts it, “expending considerable resources… if the greater bicycle network fails to connect” (Caltrans DRISI, 2024)—found San Francisco already has largely low-stress, bikeable streets (0.47) but a designated bikeway network connecting only a fraction of them (0.07)—a gap Davis has almost entirely closed (0.36 vs. 0.40) (Miah, Fournier & Skabardonis, 2025).

This proposal is a narrower answer to the 2025 North Star network: finish the core All Ages and Abilities network so it lives up to its name.

Click a place in the list or on the map for details and a concept rendering.