Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the type of testing that will occur with the bike lane.
The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) voted Thursday to reduce Richmond-San Rafael Bridge bike lane access so transportation agencies can test the impact on emergency response times. Caltrans also plans to test using it as a part-time high occupancy vehicle lane for buses and carpools.
The decision, approved by a 15-to-2 vote of the 27-member commission (18 commissioners were present; Amber Manfree, Napa County’s alternative representative, abstained) came after a more than seven-hour hearing. It marks the end of an extended debate about the future of a five-year pilot of the bike and pedestrian lane between Richmond and Marin County — a lane that advocates say was appreciated by bicycle commuters and that opponents say worsened traffic congestion.
Starting in October, access to the bike and pedestrian path, located on the bridge’s westbound upper deck, will only be open Thursday afternoons through Sundays instead of 24/7. Caltrans will use the lane as a breakdown shoulder, its original role before the bike path pilot was launched in 2019. They argue this shoulder will allow for faster emergency response times, reducing traffic backups.
The new three-year pilot, part of Caltrans and the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) Westbound Improvement Project, will also extend a lane for high occupancy vehicles from Regatta Boulevard in Richmond to the toll plaza. In the current pilot, the HOV lane would end at the bridge’s Richmond access point, not extending across the bridge.
Breakdown lane could eventually have alternating uses: a bike lane and an HOV lane
However, after the three-year pilot program, pending future environmental review and permitting, the breakdown lane could be converted to a fulltime traffic and bike lane. This third lane would have a split use: It would be an HOV lane Mondays through Thursdays mornings, becoming a bike and pedestrian lane Thursday afternoons through Sundays. It’s estimated the HOV lane would reduce vehicle time spent on the bridge by an average of 10 to 20 minutes. The eastbound lower deck already has three car lanes. Now the third one will always be open to eastbound commuters from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The 10-foot-wide path on the bridge’s north side is separated from traffic by a moveable concrete barrier, allowing its use to be varied. According to MTC data, there have been 413,889 bike trips across the bridge since it opened and 60,003 pedestrian crossings.
There will be a free shuttle service to cross the bridge between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. on days when the path is closed.
Designated shuttle stops will be at the Vista Point Parking Lot in San Rafael and the AC Transit Tewksbury bus stop at Castro Street and East Standard Avenue in Richmond. The shuttle can accommodate up to 10 bikes on the 20-minute journey across the bridge. Bikers will be able to track the shuttle in real time via an app, Caltrans said.
The rebooted pilot program’s goal is to provide the transportation agencies with time to collect information about emergency response times and delays related to incidents on the bridge.
Dani Lanis, Bike East Bay advocacy manager, told Richmondside recently that he believes that reducing bicyclist access to the path runs counter to the BCDC’s principle of providing “maximum feasible public access” to the bay’s shoreline.
Proposals to restrict bike lane access have been opposed since 2024 by the West Contra Costa Transportation Commission — which represents all five cities of western Contra Costa County — and by the Richmond, Albany and Berkeley city councils. Local pro-bicycling organizations, such as Rich City Rides, have also opposed it.
“This path connects communities that have historically been disconnected, and reducing access sends the wrong message about who our transportation systems are meant to serve,” Rich City director Najari Smith told Richmondside in an email recently. “Dismantling access to this path moves us backward on every front — climate justice, public health, and equity.”
A May 2024 report by UC Berkeley’s California Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology (PATH) said that the bike lane’s impact on bridge traffic has been minimal, with westbound drivers experiencing less than one minute of additional travel time despite the reduced vehicle capacity.
However, emergency response times to incidents have increased during the bike lane pilot, slowing down traffic, said Larry Bonner, Caltrans District 4 Office Chief for the Office of Environmental Analysis, during the Thursday commission meeting.
During the office’s study, from November 2019 to April 2024 incident response times increased an average of 3.4 minutes, Bonner said. There is roughly one incident on the bridge each week, said Lisa Klein, deputy executive director for mobility for MTC, meaning situations where a tow truck is called. Incident rates have increased by five a year since the bike path’s installation in 2019.
“A small incident can have a big impact,” Bonner said. “As a general rule, each minute of delay in response has a fourfold impact on traffic.”
During the study period, bridge traffic output (the vehicle-carrying capacity of the bridge in a given timeframe) decreased an average of 7% during weekdays and 5% during weekends, he said.
Bruce Beyaert, chair of the Trails for Richmond Action Committee (TRAC), told Richmondside that he believes the upcoming Richmond-San Rafael Forward project, scheduled to replace toll booths with open-road tolling by summer 2026, and an effort by the MTC to extend the HOV lane will relieve traffic congestion for drivers coming from the Richmond side.
“The biggest problem is the approach to the bridge,” he said. “Those improvements are going to make a big difference.”
Opposition to the bridge bike path by motorists and business associations in the public comments submitted to the BCDC have revealed deep divisions over the bike path’s impact on traffic safety and congestion.
Ron McRobbie of San Rafael criticized the proposal as “smoke & mirrors,” arguing that allowing the bike path to remain as it is “will not ease the westbound commute and related negative environmental impacts” and called for the bike lane to be removed completely. He also questioned the costs and complexity of moving barriers — a two hour process that would increase costs by roughly $500,000, according to Klein — twice weekly to accommodate the proposed Thursday afternoons through Sundays model.
Richmond resident Lauren Goode with the Bay Area Council advocated at Thursday’s meeting for the approval of the breakdown lane.
“We must address Richmond’s traffic concerns with the same swiftness and effectiveness as we have addressed Marin’s traffic on the lower deck,” she said. “There’s a clear income and racial disparity between those who utilize the bridge’s upper deck during the morning commute compared to those who utilize the bike lane.”
Eighty thousand cars cross the bridge each day. There are an average of 115 bicycle crossings each weekday, and 380 on Saturdays and Sundays.
“We cannot leave our most marginalized communities behind,” Goode said. “This is a real issue that must be addressed.”
Richmond resident Aaron Kunst, project director at the state’s Center for Healthy Communities, raised concerns during Thursday’s public comment session about the increased pollution from car traffic and limited access to physical recreation.
The reduction of bicycle access has garnered some support from business organizations representing employees who use the bridge. During public comment, representatives with the Laborers International Union of North America and the Marin Association of Public Employees spoke in favor of the new pilot program.
The Richmond Chamber of Commerce endorsed reducing bike path hours, with Executive Director Vernon Whitmore stating in his online public comment that the path led to an increase in traffic incidents during weekday morning commutes.
“These delays disproportionately affect people of color in Richmond who rely on predictable travel times to meet rigid work schedules,” Whitmore wrote, emphasizing that many affected workers are “essential workers — educators, healthcare professionals, tradespeople, public employees, and service workers — who cannot work remotely.”
At Thursday’s hearing, Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who is a BCDC commissioner, spoke in favor of the Caltrans plan, though he advocated for there to be a greater emphasis on public transportation.
“We are losing an amazing opportunity to create clean bus rapid transit,” Gioia said, with other commissioners pushing for a transit-only lane.
In a Facebook post, he pointed out additional positives of the commission decision, such as the fact that the plan requires the MTC to allocate $10 million to help complete the Richmond Wellness Trail between Cutting Boulevard and the Richmond ferry terminal and a bike lane on Harbour Way from downtown Richmond to Interstate 580.
BCDC Commissioner and Richmond Vice Mayor Cesar Zepeda spoke on behalf of the blue-collar workers he considered unrepresented at Thursday’s hearing, citing the impracticality of carrying heavy tools (such as a lawnmower, he said) to commute to a job on a bicycle.
“”
“I’m a lifetime cyclist, and it is very painful for me … I am regrettably going to support this.”
— Andrew Gunther, Oakland BCDC commissioner
Zepeda and others expressed deep resignation about the new pilot, even as they voted to approve it.
“This is the most challenging decision I’ve faced as a BCDC commissioner,” Oakland-based Andrew Gunther said.
“I’m a lifetime cyclist, and it is very painful for me ..,” he said, trailing off. “I am regrettably going to support this.”
Others pushed for greater public input.
“We did not hear from the landscapers,” commission chair Zach Wasserman said. “We did not hear from the small contractors. We most certainly did not hear from the people who clean homes in Marin. We need more data.”
“This isn’t easy,” he said. “This is an unprecedented situation of significantly pulling back on public access.”
Wasserman ultimately voted “yes.”
While the motion passed, commissioners are seeking a more comprehensive oversight and methodological commitment from Caltrans. Ultimately, it was agreed that Caltrans would update the BCDC with preliminary stakeholder data and a clear methodological approach to measure the benchmarks of the pilot’s success by May 7, 2026.
Eighty people spoke during the hearing’s public comment session, with the majority opposed to reducing the bike lane hours. One man, who attended the meeting in San Francisco in person, offered some constructive criticism.
“I was disappointed to find the bicycle parking in this [Metro Center] garage to be subpar,” he said. “I haven’t seen anything like that since the 1980s. Please put in some actual bike parking.”
Richmondside reporter Joel Umanzor contributed to this report.
A huge win for Richmonders and the whole bay area. It’s amazing that the pilot was allowed to go on as long as it did, being so underutilized and so wasteful. Next step is to remove the barrier entirely and get carpool or rush hour traffic in the lane!
Alas, short term thinking won again. Short term gain is much more important than protecting our world for our kids. We must think longer term and stay within a budget so that our planet stays healthier. We must *reduce* vehicle miles traveled to reduce climate change and pollution and resource overuse. Expanding roadways for motor vehicles is going in the wrong direction and is not going to accomplish the needed reductions. There should be 24/7 dedicated bike/ped lanes on every bridge across the bay. Every street should be a complete street — safe for all transportation users.
Stunning! I can’t believe this passed. And I don’t care how you spin it. Any law that increases vehicle use is destructive all around. And bike lanes are never a waste. I get that traffic increases if a car breaks down. Cry about it! That’s part of driving. But absolutely removing the bike lane? Y’all are moving in reverse. How are we supposed to ride home from SF now? There are no bike lanes on the three closest bridges. Cyclists now have to ride all the way to Carquinez Bridge or the Dumbarton or piggyback on a kayak. Ridiculous. A huge loss.
Can we stop the framing that every use of the bicycle is recreational and every use of the car is essential? I’ve been commuting on the Dumbarton bike path for 13 years, and things are picking up a bit with ebikes!