This article first appeared in the Winter 2015 edition of our quarterly magazine, the Tube Times. For this story and more, download the Winter 2015 PDF.

When we dug out the very first Tube Times, then titled the ‘Tubular Times,’ from October 1990, we found a prescient quote from then-president of the Board of Supervisors, Harry Britt.

“Keep getting cyclists down [to City Hall] and that will result in significant changes,” said Britt.

He was right. Today, thanks to the tireless advocacy of people who believe that San Francisco should be safe and welcoming to people on bikes, we are seeing the significant changes Britt promised.

But ‘significant’ is an understatement. Transformative might be a better word. Each victory, no matter how small – a strip of paint for a basic bike lane here, a bike corral there – is adding up to something huge. Together, the countless changes we have won together are remaking our city.

There are moments from the past decades we will never forget. Like in 1999, when the Valencia Street bike lane opened despite a then-director at the SF Department of Parking and Traffic stating it would happen over “my dead body.” Or in 2010 when we helped paint the first bike box – the green area behind a crosswalk for people on bikes to wait – after the nearly four-year-long bike injunction was lifted. We’re looking forward to other equally memorable moments in the years to come, including the first ride on the Embarcadero two-way protected cycle track or the first morning of car-free Market Street.

When the fledgling San Francisco Bicycle Coalition celebrated the opening of the first bike lane in the City in 1971 (on Lake Street), we could have hardly imagined what would be happening in 2015. You don’t have to look far to find transformation happening before your very eyes, and there’s much more on the way!

WHAT’S COMING YOUR WAY IN 2015:

FELL & OAK STREETS – We’ve been waiting for the SF Municipal Transportation Agency to fulfill their promise of a physically-separated bikeway on Fell and Oak for more than a year. Finally, in early 2015, the SFMTA and Department of Public Works have promised to implement beautiful new planted medians like the ones on lower Polk Street. These will create permanent, physical protection on one of the city’s busiest bikeways.

HOWARD STREET – Look for an improved buffered bike lane on Howard Street between 6th and 10th Streets in the first quarter of 2015. This bike lane will mirror its “partner lane” on Folsom, with more green paint, buffers, and protective soft hit posts near the intersections. We will continue to advocate for a buffered bike lane the full length of Howard Street, but in the meantime we hope you enjoy the improved ride from 6th to 10th.