Authorities release identity of pedestrian killed by Tenderloin bus

A pedestrian fatally struck by a Golden Gate Transit bus in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood on Saturday evening has been identified by the medical examiner’s office as 65-year-old Mark Swink.

Swink, a San Francisco resident, died in the collision reported around 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Golden Gate Avenue and Hyde Street.

The death was the 10th involving a bicyclist or pedestrian in San Francisco in 2019 and the sixth in just over a month, according to the advocacy group Walk San Francisco, which held a vigil Monday evening at the site of Swink’s death.

“The reality is our city is facing new challenges on our streets,” Walk SF spokeswoman Marta Lindsey said at the vigil.

“We have tens of thousands of new vehicles, we’ve got faster speeds, we’ve got distracted drivers. Our city has to act in a way that matches those challenges that we’re seeing, or else our city is going to get really scary,” Lindsey said.

Supervisor Matt Haney, who represents the Tenderloin, also attended Monday’s vigil.

“The Tenderloin is an area that has so many seniors, kids and families, and deserves and needs safe streets,” Haney said.