Media contact: David Perry / (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

Waymo is Official Pace Car and Autonomous Technology Partner
for 2024 Bay to Breakers

16 April 2024. San Francisco, CA:   Bay to Breakers (www.baytobreakers.com) welcomes everyone: costumed, costumedless and yes, driverless.  The iconic annual race spanning San Francisco proudly announces its partnership with Waymo (www.waymo.com) as the official pace car and autonomous technology partner for the upcoming event taking place on Sunday, May 19.

“San Francisco is the capital of innovation, like that pioneered by Waymo,” said Crystian Kumnick of Bay to Breakers / Motiv Sports “Waymo’s expertise in safe autonomous driving technology demonstrates the potential of enhancing large-scale events such as Bay to Breakers, making the event ever more accessible and friendly to runners and pedestrians alike. They are an ideal partner for Bay to Breakers, making this event more convenient and enjoyable for all.”

In addition to Waymo leading the pack of runners and walkers along the scenic route from the San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean, their fleet will also serve as the Official Autonomous Technology Partner for Bay to Breakers participants.

“Waymo is proud to partner with Bay to Breakers to help celebrate this iconic San Francisco tradition,” said Kai Witbeck, Waymo Brand Engagement Lead. “Runners, cyclists and  pedestrians are especially important to us, as the Waymo Driver works tirelessly to reduce collisions and improve road safety for all users.” 

Bay to Breakers is a San Francisco original, known for its spirited race that has been a staple of the city since 1912, originally conceived as a way to show the city’s recovery and resilience following the Great 1906 Earthquake and Fire.

Bay to Breakers brings together athletes, families, community members, and costume-clad participants for a 12k race from the San Francisco Bay to the breakers on the Pacific Coast, treasured as a celebration of life, laughter, and the personality of San Francisco, embodying the city’s inclusive spirit and community engagement. During the annual Bay to Breakers Race, participants of all ages and abilities, and oftentimes in costume, line up on Howard Street a few blocks from The Embarcadero on the third Sunday in May – in 2024, May 19. The course travels west through the City for and finishes at the Great Highway, where the breakers crash into Ocean Beach. It truly is a time-honored tradition and the quintessential San Francisco experience. 

Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to get where they’re going. Since its start as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, Waymo has been focused on improving the world’s access to mobility while saving thousands of lives now lost to traffic crashes. To date, Waymo has driven tens of millions of miles on public roads and tens of billions of miles in simulation.  For more: www.waymo.com

To learn more about Bay to Breakers or sign up for the fun go to www.baytobreakers.com. To learn more about how businesses can participate in the Corporate Teams program, email Alex Jee ajee@motivsports.com. For more information about how to get involved as a sponsor, please reach out to at hello@unitepartnerships.com 

Media contact: David Perry / (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

Bread & Butter Wines Named Exclusive Wine Partner
for Bay to Breakers 2024

Whether running the race or dancing to the finish line, attendees can enjoy a selection of best-selling wines

10 April  2024, San Francisco, CA: Raise a glass! Bay to Breakers, San Francisco’s internationally known iconic foot race is partnering with Bread & Butter Wines, known for easy-to-love, classic varietals, in an exclusive partnership. This collaboration marks a unique fusion of premium wine and athletic spirit, bringing together participants and spectators in celebration of one of the city’s most cherished traditions.

“Bread & Butter Wines is honored to partner with Bay to Breakers, a storied event that captures the vibrant essence of San Francisco,” said Linda Trotta, winemaker at Bread & Butter Wines. “In the same spirit as our winery’s motto, ‘don’t overthink it,’ Bay to Breakers is an event where participants are encouraged to have fun and not take themselves too seriously. We’re excited to share our wines with both participants and spectators, enhancing their experience at this iconic event.”

As the exclusive wine partner for Bay to Breakers 2024, Bread & Butter Wines will offer a selection of its bestselling wines, ensuring participants and VIPs can enjoy the perfect post-race toast. As an added bonus, Bread & Butter Wines will provide a one-of-a-kind co-branded glass for participants to enjoy their wine in and take home as a race memento (wine sampling and glasses available while supplies last). This partnership underscores Bread & Butter’s commitment to celebrating life’s simple pleasures: good wine, good company, and unforgettable moments.

“We are delighted to welcome Bread & Butter Wines as the Exclusive Wine Sponsor for the 2024 race,” said Phyllis Blanchard of Motiv Sports/Bay to Breakers. “Their commitment to quality and community, plus their ‘seriously fun’ perspective fits perfectly with the spirit of Bay to Breakers.”

Bread & Butter Wines is a California-based winery with a tasting room in the world-famous Napa Valley that prides itself on creating classic, approachable wine varietals that are simply delicious. With a philosophy rooted in the belief that life’s occasions, big or small, are best celebrated with a bottle of wine, Bread & Butter crafts Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and other varietals that are true to their roots and meant to be enjoyed as part of the everyday. For more information, visit breadandbutterwines.com. 

Bay to Breakers is a San Francisco original, known for its spirited race that has been a staple of the city since 1912. It brings together athletes, families, community members, and costume-clad participants for a 12k race from the San Francisco Bay to the breakers on the Pacific Coast. Bay to Breakers is a celebration of life, laughter, and the personality of San Francisco, embodying the city’s inclusive spirit and community engagement.  During the annual Bay to Breakers Race, participants of all ages and abilities, and oftentimes in costume, line up on Howard Street a few blocks from The Embarcadero on the third Sunday in May – in 2024, May 19. The course travels west through the City for and finishes at the Great Highway, where the breakers crash into Ocean Beach. It truly is a time-honored tradition and the quintessential San Francisco experience.
To learn more about Bay to Breakers or sign up for the fun go to www.baytobreakers.com. To learn more about how businesses can participate as a sponsor or in the Corporate Teams program, email Alex Jee ajee@motivsports.com 

To learn more about Bread and Butter Wines visit www.breadandbutterwines.com 

SF Mayor Breed Advocates for San Francisco at CA State Capitol 

Mayor Breed to join other California Mayors to speak on current and future initiatives at legislative hearing in the State Capitol, including Mayor Breed’s support for three key state bills authored by the San Francisco legislative delegation 

8 April 2024, San Francisco, CA: Today, Mayor London N. Breed traveled to Sacramento to advocate for the City’s Downtown recovery efforts by leveraging support for key state bills, and testified at the Capitol about the City’s ongoing work and what more is needed to support San Francisco’s Downtown. 

Mayor Breed spoke alongside Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson, and Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson, at the first hearing of Assemblymember Matt Haney’s Select Committee on Downtown Recovery. The Committee’s goal is to bring together experts from across the state to further explore the barriers to revitalization that downtowns are facing due to the impacts of the pandemic and solutions to help them recover.  

Garnering continued support for San Francisco’s downtown recovery includes advancing state legislation that would encourage renewed investment in downtown San Francisco that is needed to support economic recovery. Mayor Breed is advocating for three pieces of state legislation, authored by San Francisco’s delegation: 

• SB 1227 (Wiener) would create a Downtown Revitalization Zone in San Francisco for a period of 10 years, streamlining approvals for academic campuses, student housing, sports and entertainment venues, lab and life science space, and other mixed-use and commercial renovations and developments; and create a new financing tool to spur workforce housing in the heart of the City’s jobs center. Mayor Breed is a sponsor of this bill.
• AB 3068 (Haney) would give cities like San Francisco the ability to create an adaptive reuse incentive program that would help finance office to housing projects. The program would support these projects by giving the City the ability to direct local property tax revenues generated by the projects to offset renovation costs for 15 years. 
• AB 2488 (Ting) would allow cities to use Enhanced Infrastructure Finance Districts (EIFDs) in downtown areas to help finance office-to-housing conversions by directing tax increment revenue generated in downtown areas to conversion projects and other downtown recovery infrastructure investments over a 30-year period. 

These three pieces of legislation would provide San Francisco with a number of additional tools to revitalize downtown and are a set of creative solutions the City needs to build on local efforts to revitalize the area.  

The Mayor also will testify about commitments she is making to continue to revitalize the area. These include 30 by 30, her proposal to add 30,000 more residents and students to downtown by 2030 through a combination of converting vacant office space to housing, building new housing, and bringing students, faculty, and staff downtown by attracting universities and colleges to the area. 

“San Francisco’s Downtown is changing, and we must be creative and aggressive in our work to transform our City’s core from an outdated 9 to 5 office environment to a bustling 24/7 neighborhood,” said Mayor Breed. “That means adding more housing, students, arts and culture venues to our worldwide reputation as a center of innovation and excellence. We are doing the work locally and will continue to build on our momentum, but there are tools that only the state can provide to help us do even more to revitalize our Downtown.” 

Mayor Breed has launched several key initiatives as part of her larger Roadmap to San Francisco’s Future strategy, including: 

• Office to Housing: Passed legislation to streamline the conversion process, lower housing fees, and authored a successful ballot measure to waive the transfer tax for conversions. 
• Tax Reform: Paused scheduled tax increases for retail, restaurants, entertainment, hospitality and other businesses, created a Downtown office tax credit and initiated business tax reform to encourage in-person work and make our tax base more resilient. 
• Public Safety: Expanded both law enforcement and community ambassador presence in and around Downtown, which has contributed to crime dropping to ten-year lows. 
• Fill Empty Storefronts: Established the Vacant to Vibrant program that matches pop-up businesses and artists with downtown landlords to activate ground-floor spaces, extended the First Year Free program that has waives City fees for businesses in their first year, and awarded over $20 million in grants to small businesses. 
• Vibrant Public Spaces: Implemented improvements in public spaces Downtown and Mid-Market such as the Landing at Leidesdorff, Mechanics Monument Plaza, Union Square, Hallidie Plaza, Powell Street, and a new skate park at UN Plaza.

Due to these continued investments and initiatives, San Francisco is beginning to see some initial positive results: 

• Both international and domestic travel has nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels.
• Hotel occupancy reached 80% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023
• In 2023, conventions brought in 400,000 visitors, generating $725 million in economic impact.
• San Francisco is the largest venture capital (VC) market in the world, attracting more than $34 billion in VC deals in 2023.
• Tenant demand for office space reached 6 million square feet in in the first quarter of 2024, a significant increase from the 4.2 million square feet of demand at the end of last year.