Traversing SF's Unforgiving Streets With Mobility Scooter Users
Navigating cities with a cane, a walker or a wheelchair can be difficult. San Francisco, with its dozens of distinct hills—some reaching grades of more than 30 degrees—is an especially challenging place for people with disabilities. Streets are consistently busy, sidewalks might be broken, but worst of all, entrances to BART and Muni are often completely inaccessible.
While interning for The Standard, I spent a month last summer documenting the lives of Loyce Furlough and Allen Jones, two San Franciscans who rely on mobility scooters to get around. Jones and Furlough both have lived in the city for decades—Jones since he was 3 years old, and Furlough since she was 18 years old. Taken together, their experiences capture just how difficult navigating San Francisco with a disability can be.
Full story at The San Francisco Standard
Allen Jones crosses the street in Union Square in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, July 14, 2022. Jones’s mobility scooter substitutes for public transportation when getting around the city. | Juliana Yamada/The Standard
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Allen Jones makes his way down Valencia St. in the Mission District in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, July 27, 2022. San Francisco shared spaces laws state that there must be a minimum of 6 feet in width on the sidewalks for pedestrians to pass through safely. Due to the size of Jones’s mobility scooter, some sidewalks are almost impossible for Jones to pass through.
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Allen Jones waits to cross the street on his mobility scooter in the Mission District on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in San Francisco, Calif. | Juliana Yamada/The Standard
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Allen Jones wipes away tears while recounting his struggles with accessibility with his sister at his home in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, August 1, 2022. | Juliana Yamada/The Standard
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Allen Jones’s mobility scooter, which he calls Gatsby, charges in his closet in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, August 4, 2022. | Juliana Yamada/The Standard
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Allen Jones shows the Twitter app on his mobile phone, detailing his exchange with Mayor London Breed about accessibility issues in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, August 4, 2022. | Juliana Yamada/The Standard
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Loyce Furlough makes coffee in her kitchen in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. When at home, Furlough uses a cane to get around instead of her mobility scooter. | Juliana Yamada/The Standard
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Loyce Furlough goes up the stairs in her home in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 22, 2022. | Juliana Yamada/The Standard
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Loyce Furlough (right), and her grandson Sylas Lucas (left), prepare to run errands on their respective scooters in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, August 3, 2022. | Juliana Yamada/The Standard
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Loyce Furlough heads to her home on her mobility scooter in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, August 3, 2022. Furlough encounters multiple broken or uneven sidewalks on her route, which her mobility scooter cannot always weather. | Juliana Yamada/The Standard
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Loyce Furlough (center) and her grandson Sylas Lucas (right) make jewelry at their home in San Francisco, Calif., while Furlough’s daughter Naomi Payton (left) visits on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. | Juliana Yamada/The Standard
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Loyce Furlough glances at a piece of abandoned furniture on the sidewalk as she makes her way to Safeway in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, August 3, 2022. | Juliana Yamada/The Standard
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Loyce Furlough relaxes in her home in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 22, 2022. | Juliana Yamada/The Standard
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Allen Jones is seen through his mobility scooter mirror in Union Square in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, July 14, 2022. | Juliana Yamada/The Standard
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