We watched one vehicle per minute block the bike lane on a small stretch of SF street In just 30 minutes, dozens of vehicles obstructed bike lanes on a 3-block stretch in SoMa

Cyclists on Folsom St. faced more than a dozen bike lane obstacles during on 30 minute observation of of a section of Folsom St. Cyclists on Folsom St. faced more than a dozen bike lane obstacles during on 30 minute observation of of a section of Folsom St. Photo: Michelle Robertson/SFGATE Photo: Michelle Robertson/SFGATE Image 1 of / 32 Caption Close We watched one vehicle per minute block the bike lane on a small stretch of SF street 1 / 32 Back to Gallery

It's an existential question: Is a bike lane still a bike lane if it's filled with other vehicles?

On any given afternoon in San Francisco you might find skateboarders, Boosted boarders, OneWheelers and, of course, bicycles, zipping along the designated pathway. Just as often, it seems, San Francisco drivers use unprotected lanes as designated parking spaces or optional third lanes of traffic.

To get a sense of how pervasive the latter problem is, we sent out three SFGATE staffers to monitor a three-block stretch between 5th and Hawthorne Streets along Folsom Street. The goal was to see how many times motorized vehicles obstructed bike lanes around our offices during a typical 30 minute window. From 3:30 to 4 p.m. observers tracked how many vehicles crossed their tires into the bike lane, how long they idled there and why they stopped in the first place.

A full hour before the weekday commute rush, we found this one-way, .4-mile section of South of Market heavily trafficked by cars, trucks, rideshares and cyclists.

The bike lanes along this small stretch are varied depending on the block: Some are painted bright green and some are designated solely by a white line and a bicycle symbol. None of the bike lanes here are protected, meaning they do not have curbs, posts, parked cars or planters separating the lane from automobile traffic.

Also: I strapped a pool noodle to my bike in SF for safety. It actually worked.

Over 30 minutes, along the three-block stretch, observers counted at least 26 instances of bike-lane obstructions. The scofflaws were classified into six categories: rideshares picking up customers, trucks idling or delivering goods, cars idling, public buses partially blocking the lane, vehicles pulling into the lane before turning right, and miscellaneous obstructions.

It quickly became clear that Uber and Lyft drivers weren’t the only ones clogging cycling lanes. In one instance, a man in a car stopped in the bike lane to pick up a meal from Subway.

The most common offense, with 12 by our tally, was pulling into the bike lane before making a right turn. On the streets we observed, there is a designated dashed line that vehicles can enter before turning. Vehicles often disregarded this space, and pulled partially into the bike lane while more than 200 feet away from the stoplight — the amount of space state law requires drivers to observe before turning. According to SFMTA spokesperson Benjamin Barnett, it is illegal to begin merging for a right turn before the dashed line and before you are less than 200 feet away from the intersection.

The next most frequent offenders were rideshare drivers picking up passengers, a common complaint among cyclists riding in high foot-traffic areas. Muni buses were also seen failing to pull over entirely next to the curb at bus stops, thereby partially blocking the bike lane. This is “not illegal,” according to Barnett, though is not “proper procedure.”

Delivery and box trucks, considering the amount of time they spent in the lane during our 30-minute observation period, were the most egregious offenders. A paper company truck stopped in the bike lane for 15 minutes, a moving truck parked stopped for 27 minutes, and a UPS truck stopped for at least 14 minutes. The latter two vehicles were still parked by the time the observation period ended.

Another problem for cyclists is the high volume of vehicles repeatedly crossing their passenger-side wheels across the border of the bike lane, even if they did not plan to turn right. Though an admittedly minor infraction, it’s illegal to do so. Bike lanes are at minimum five feet wide; even a small obstruction can impact the feeling of safety for cyclists.

According to California Vehicle Code 21209, it is always illegal for cars, delivery trucks and ride shares to idle in the bike lane. In fact, it’s illegal to drive a vehicle in a bike lane at all -- except to pull into and out of a parking space, to enter or leave the roadway or to prepare for a turn within 200 feet from the intersection. Failure to observe these rules can result in a fine of $238 and one point on your DMV driving record.

If you are a regular San Francisco cyclist, you’ve probably witnessed countless delivery trucks, rideshares and cars disregarding these bike lane laws -- without consequences.

After a highly publicized death in March of this year, San Francisco Mayor London Breed vowed to change things. She called for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to give out more tickets to drivers blocking bike lanes, and promised a 10-percent increase in citations over the following six-month period. She also pledged to create an additional 20 miles of protected bike lanes in the city by 2021. SFMTA could not immediately provide data for the number of bike lane citations issued in May and June.

The safety of San Francisco’s streets has been an ongoing discussion in the city, though it’s intensified in recent years as the city has pursued a 'Vision Zero' goal of eliminating traffic deaths. 2019. Since Jan. 1, 19 pedestrians, drivers or cyclists have died in traffic collisions on San Francisco streets. A total of 23 people in total died in traffic collisions last year.

Michelle Robertson is a freelance writer and former SFGATE producer. She can be reached by email at michbrobertson@gmail.com or on Twitter at @mrobertsonsf.

SFGATE staffers Grant Marek, Izzy Angus and Nikki Tran contributed to this report.