The Midweek #64: San Antonio, a City of Sprawl, is Tough on Cyclists

For the 15th consecutive year in San Antonio, cyclists will gather in silence this evening on Main Plaza in the historic heart of the city to honor the six riders who were struck and killed by vehicle drivers last year.  

Some of those drivers were drunk, others careless and distracted, and still others were simply declared not at fault. Cyclists, not drivers, inevitably pay the price. While six cyclists were killed on city roads last year, 15 others were seriously injured. One rider has already been killed this year. A total of 34 cyclists died and 110 seriously injured between 2021 and 2025 on San Antonio streets after being struck by drivers. 

The annual Ride of Silence will begin with a 6:30 pm gathering and a 7 pm departure along an easy, 10-mile route that will proceed at a leisurely 12 mph pace. This isn’t a race or a competition. It’s a public procession and a civic memorial. You don’t need to ride all 10 miles. Just show up if you support San Antonio becoming a city that is safe for cyclists and pedestrians.

The global Ride of Silence began in Dallas in 2003 and has since spread to hundreds of cities, including the initial ride here in 2013. It now happens in San Antonio the third Wednesday in May. Cyclists in cities around the state, country and world will be participating in their hometowns. Locally, it’s supported by two important groups that promote safe cycling, the SATX Social Ride and ActivateSA. Both organizations work to raise awareness among motorists, law enforcement, and city officials about the rights of cyclists to share the road. 

"The Ride of Silence serves as a powerful reminder of the vulnerabilities cyclists face and the need for mutual respect on our roads," said Jeff Moore, President of SATX Social Ride. "It's a moment for our community to come together in reflection and advocacy for safer streets."

“Each year, the Ride of Silence reminds us that every life lost or impacted on our streets is a call to do better," said Joey Pawlik, Executive Director of ActivateSA. " I urge our community and leaders alike to take action—support safer street designs, drive with care, and invest in infrastructure that protects everyone who uses our roads.”

Shirley Gonzales, now the co-owner with her husband Kevin Barton of the Pedal the Peaks bike shop in Durango, CO, lived here and served on the San Antonio City Council representing District 5 and the Westside from 2013-2021. They later moved to a city and state where cycling is celebrated as a sport, as healthy and safe recreation and as an important segment of the visitor industry.

Under Gonzales' leadership, San Antonio became a Vision Zero city, committed in word if not in deed, to becoming a city that aspires to experience zero cycling and pedestrian fatalities. In many of the ensuing years, unfortunately, the number of fatalities in both categories has risen rather than declined.

I’ve written many times over the years about the city’s never-implemented 2011 Bicycle Master Plan, which died a quiet and dusty death on city hall shelves last year. It has since been replaced by the 2025 Bike Network Plan approved by City Council in January last year as a path to “setting in motion the transformation of bicycling in San Antonio by providing safer, more comfortable bike paths for those who use bicycles for recreation, work, and travel.”

That’s a worthy cause, but I set aside my usual sense of optimism to express concern that this plan stands no better chance than the last one. For starters, it’s a 25-year plan, which lets Mayor Gina Jones and the current City Council and those who follow them into municipal elected office, to kick the can down the road. Second, it comes with a price tag of $3 to $8 billion, a sum that is beyond the grasp of local taxpayers. Third, it recommends “construction of more than 1,700 miles of new or upgraded bike infrastructure in the coming years, to be paid for by a variety of funding sources.”

Do not look for that funding in the 2027 city bond.

There is a serious problem in San Antonio’s city government and at City Council of issuing far-reaching plans that go unfunded and unimplemented, and passing ordinances that go unenforced. Both teach citizens to lose faith in local government, and encourage law-breakers to ignore rules that are never enforced.

Glance over at your fellow motorists stopped at lights or driving on city streets and highways who are working their cell phones at the same time. It happens widely because there is little or no effort to enforce the hands-free ordinance.

Drivers routinely ignore the “three foot passing rule” that requires them to separate their vehicles safely away from cyclists. The ordinance is considered a joke among cyclists, who note that VIA bus drivers are the worst at respecting the “six-foot passing rule” for commercial vehicles. It’s another ordinance that police do not enforce.

Have you been passed by a road rager or lane jumper on area highways of late? It’s a terrible problem, but people know they can engage in reckless driving and excessive speeding with little chance of being caught because there is so little enforcement.

We would be a safer city if we would enforce the laws already on the books. So this Wednesday evening, cyclists will quietly let their bikes do the talking. We will obey stop signs and traffic lights. We ask vehicle drivers to do the same. Perhaps next year the ride can be turned into a celebration instead of a memorial.

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👏 Kudos: To Western Urban and Frost Bank for the huge Spurs banner decorating the northside of the Frost Tower in team colors. Spurs signs are everywhere in the city, from downtown office towers  to inner city house fronts to vehicle antennas. But the Frost Tower banner is high tech and dramatic, day and night, a reminder that San Antonio is Spurs City as the team works its way, one game at a time, toward that coveted sixth NBA Championship Trophy. Go, Spurs, Go!