More changes are on tap for Ingleside's Frida Kahlo Way.
About a year and a half after the installation of a two-way protected bikeway and improvements for the 43 Masonic bus, a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency planner shared data and next steps with members of the City College of San Francisco Facilities Committee.
Transportation Planner Casey Hildreth told the participants that since the installation of the Frida Kahlo Way Quick Build project, the agency counted twice the number of bicyclists on the corridor.
“We do acknowledge that the number of people using the bikeway isn't excessively high, but the growth is a positive point of feedback for us,” Hildreth said in his brief April 27 presentation.
2025 Evaluation Findings
• 120% increase in bicycle volumes. Pedestrian and vehicle volumes remained consistent.
• 45% of survey respondents said the corridor feels safer (32% said it feels the same)
• Transit ridership is up 12-16% for all stops serving City College and 6-7% for 43 Masonic bud
• Corridor travel time for private vehicles increased by 30-40 seconds, but no change for the bus
The SFMTA compiled data from February 2023 and compared it to data collected from February 2025.
The project, approved by the SFMTA Board of Directors in May 2024 and substantially completed later that fall, had been opposed by City College’s Board of Trustees.
The project entailed installing a two-bikeway on the east side of Frida Kahlo Way and south of Judson Avenue, new boarding islands for the 43 Masonic, and the removal of a bus stop. About 33 parking spaces were removed to make way for the two-way bikeway.
Other findings from the transportation agency’s data collection showed that the travel time for private autos on the corridor did increase from about 30 to 40 seconds, but Hildreth said it was still a “reasonable” time to get through the corridor.
The SFMTA still needs to complete one more boarding island in front of the new Student Success Center and the lead-in to the bikeway at Cloud Circle. Hildreth said work on those project components will start this summer.
Anna-Lisa Helmy, a faculty member on the committee, asked Hildreth if there was a way to add a stop sign for bikes near Cloud Circle as vehicles enter the campus with a green light from Ocean Avenue. Hildreth said he could not commit to any changes but would forward the feedback to the engineering team.
Hildreth said that a more detailed evaluation report will be posted on the SFMTA’s website in about one to two weeks.
The report and summer wrap-up work isn’t all. In the next year, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority will release a concept for the Ocean Avenue Bikeway project. Frida Kahlo Way will be repaved in 2028, which Hildreth described as an opportunity for “hardening” the bikeway and other changes. And a pathway to Lee Avenue will be created to the Balboa Reservoir housing development.
