1. Shared, Electric, Connected & Automated: San Francisco’s Transportation Vision
Brief personal intro… at agency about one year, work on agency sustainability.
I am speaking on behalf of SFMTA and entire project team about our vision as outlined in our DOT SCC application. A very special thanks goes to Tim P. who was the leader of this visionary effort to transform the transport network.
Today I want to highlight our vision, talking briefly about its key components, discuss how the transit agency lead the process on behalf of the City/County, and wrap up with a quick overview of what’s next in SF.
Stephan Schmidt
Sustainability Planner – SFMTA
San Francisco, California

2. By now I’m sure everyone has seen this image, showing the space it takes to accommodate 60 people using different modes of transport. Moving left to right, we see a great representation of what we all hope for as transport planners…moving the same amount of people but using much less road space, producing fewer GHGs, etc. This is our dream scenario.

3. But if the last image represents a planner’s dream, this is the nightmare scenario. This shows what can happen when technology is not thoughtfully and intentionally leveraged in cities. This is what can happen when we put technology ahead of people. We have three modes, all privately used, and no matter what tech fixes we see here, the street space is still overfilled and we don’t see the types of changes that we want to see in our cities. We still have congested streets and GHGS and unsafe conditions.
TNCs

4. Where are we now?
So to combat that nightmare scenario, San Francisco’s transportation vision takes a tiered approach. We call this the SECA model— Shared, Electric, Connected and Automated vehicles. And there is an intentional ordering to this acronym. Planners love acronyms, and ACES just sounds much cooler, but it puts the tech first and the people last.
This image shows where we are today in most US cities… congested streets, mixed uses with not enough room for bikes and peds. Parking is chaotic, and everyone is driving around alone. Our transit vehicles are slowed down due to the traffic congestion. This is a product of inefficient land use and incorrect price signals for private vehicles. This single-occupant, ownership model is outdated and does not help meet city goals. It is unsafe, unsustainable and past it’s prime. Our vision is to get from here, Phase 1 of the SECA pathway, to our end goal which serves all users not just private vehicles. We really see this as an equity issue. All users should feel like the streets are for them and that they are being accommodated.

5. SECA Vision
Before we jump right into this image, Phase 5 of the SECA vision, I want to quickly point out Phases 2-4 which are the intermediate stops along the way. As we progress in phases, we start to see more vehicles becoming electric, congestion decreasing, parking being removed for parklets and bike corrals, and alternative modes being given their own spaces. We know that the tiered approach is the way to go…as EVs become more common and AVCV technology matures and regulations are made, we can layer these on top of the shared framework.
Flash forward to Phase 5 of the pathway, the SECA end-state if you will. This represents our ideal future that we’re working to achieve. Vehicles are shared, electric, connected and automated. GHGs are down, traffic fatalities are avoided, and the streets have been reclaimed for all. Mass amounts of parking is no longer needed and we can re-shape our land use to add much-needed housing and open space. We can remove driving lanes and expand bike lanes because vehicles are connected, speaking to one another and their surroundings, so they don’t need as much space to operate safely.

6. Pilot Projects
We will get to this end state by implementing our vision of regional, city-wide and neighborhood pilots that together will ensure that mobility options are affordable, accessible, safe and sustainable. We will work with private partners and our communities to make sure the right solutions are in the right places, and that people are put first. This is a city effort, but SFMTA led the initial charge and will continue to lead the city toward our common goals.
I could go on for hours talking about these specific pilots but I’ll leave that for a later time. The point here is that all scales are important, and pilots are the SF way of doing things. We need to test things out and make sure they work before formalizing the changes.
Congratulations to Columbus for being awarded the SCC grant. We were thrilled to be a part of it because it really galvanized the city around shaping our future in a way that benefits all. We are still working diligently to fund our vision and identify the priority pilots. Our aim is to mainstream this vision into existing documents, such as SFMTA’s strategic plan and Climate Action Strategy. By integrating this vision into all agency efforts we feel we have a better chance of success.
Thank you very much and I look forward to continuing the conversation during the Q&A.