Apolitical people may only know the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC) from its clinics that help people learn to balance and steer. Its calendar is filled with events like this: community repair nights, scooter safety workshops, and coffee clubs.
How and why did this organization end up endorsing Scott Wiener for Congress?
SFBC’s 2026–2028 strategic plan puts three big arrows toward one goal: “build political power.”
Expand Equitable Access: teach more people to ride and help them get bicycles. The more people who know how to bike, the more people have use for a bike lane. This is a coalition building its own constituency.
Shape the Cultural Narrative: make biking sound safe, enjoyable, and good for people who aren’t doing it. Selling the idea of more bike lanes to non-cyclists.
Engage Partners and Members: give people regular occasions to participate. Someone who likes the idea of better bike lanes still needs a reason to show up.
The bicycle lessons and political endorsements share a name, but not a legal home. To comply with the U.S. tax code, SFBC’s charitable Education Fund runs most programming while its affiliated 501(c)(4), governed by a member-elected board, does the endorsing. These institutional doubles can also be found in Planned Parenthood’s Federation and Action Fund, and in the ACLU’s Foundation and Union.
But what can a congressman do for a San Francisco cyclist? Congress writes the rules for federal transportation funding, and Wiener wants those rules to require support for walking and cycling projects.
SF cyclists already have reasons to look beyond City Hall. The California Department of Transportation controls some roads in the city, and in 2019, SFBC asked supporters to back a Wiener bill requiring bike lanes and safer crossings when the state repaired those roads. The governor vetoed it, but they persisted. In 2024, the coalition asked supporters to email legislators about another Wiener bill. This time, Newsom signed.
Someone who wants a safer ride to work may have little interest in following transportation bills. The coalition follows them, asks him to write to legislators, and recommends candidates based on what they have done for cycling Americans.