"Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'"

Normally I am not a big fan of petitions so I thought nothing of a recent petition (http://chn.ge/1TF7HbQ) calling on the City of Philadelphia to enforce the parking regulations regarding bicycle lanes. Because, let's face it, the PPA has no interest in ticketing cars parked in bicycle lanes.

That changed when the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia wrote a blog post (http://bit.ly/1Xkzr4J) justifying the current status quo the petition is trying to address. First the BCGP explained that the parking laws along Spruce and Pine St.’s are subject to asterisks. Signs that read “No Parking” were actually 20 minute loading zones. Only those locations that are posted as “No Stopping” mean no parking. But those are few and far apart, at best 25% of Spruce and Pine.

To make matters worse the BCGP tried to justify the current regulations.  With the excuse of “These parking regulations were decided years before the bike lanes were installed and these did not change when the bike lanes were installed in 2009.” They made a similar statement regarding churches using bike lanes as parking on Sunday.

The BCGP tried to rationalize it away by saying; “For someone unfamiliar with these long-standing agreements between the city and religious folks, this agreement may seem bizarre. Simply acknowledging these rules and the long-standing agreement can make a cyclist’s head explode.” 

The only thing making my head explode is how the BCGP tries to rationalize what has been going on since 2009, eight years. With the addition of bike lanes along Spruce & Pine has changed the way traffic flows along these streets. Which means all past agreements should change to reflect the new street conditions. The excuses that the BCGP has given to justify the chronic problems with Spruce & Pine St leaves one asking, whose side are they really on?

The BCGP has a growing number of public issues where their lack of advocacy and being too much of an insider has become obvious. With its increasing number of vanity projects and one sided deals that don’t benefit cyclists. The BCGP has become a bureaucracy and a “bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status”. (Laurence J. Peter, creator of the Peter Principle)

I told you so

In more than one post I have taken issue with with the deal the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia made with the Philadelphia City Council for the Safe Streets Bill. Which gave the Philadelphia City Council final approval on all new bike lanes, if they affected parking or traffic lanes. I’m sure the BCGP tried to rationalize this decision by thinking that they would be able to find reasonable accommodation. In the event the City Council tried to use their new political tool.

Now it looks like that choice has come back to haunt them. In this case it involves extending  the 22nd St bike lane. As part of Philadelphia’s 2012 Bike/Pedestrian plan this stretch of road was to be redeveloped to include a bike lane. Currently a five block section of 22nd St between Spring Garden and Fairmount is being resurfaced and new lane markers will be put in.

But that it not going to happen and if you cut through all of the doublespeak in the BCGP’s blog post (http://tinyurl.com/ktbelz5) it all boils down to one thing. City Councilman Bill Greenlee claims that there is community opposition to the bike lane and thus the City Council will shut down any development of the 22nd St bike lane extension. The BCGP will need to demonstrate that there is overwhelming support for the bike lane from the residents and business owners along this five block stretch. Even then I remain skeptical as Bill Greenlee will merely call in enough favors to make the process as difficult as possible. As he is the architect of the bill that gave City Council control over all future bicycle lanes.

While the BCGP might be able to marshal its resources this time to overcome the resistance of the Philadelphia City Council. What about the next time? Bicycle lanes in Philadelphia was part of the BCGP’s long term goals. Once achieved, the BCGP negotiated final decision making out of the hands of trained professionals, including Traffic Engineers. Into the hands of irrational professional politicians, all in the name of the Safe Streets Bill. I cringe to think what the BCGP will do to complete “The Circuit”.

The BCGP says that this is “an unfortunate complication”. I believe that this will be the first of many unfortunate complications to come. How many more sacrifices will Philadelphia cyclists have to make at the expense of the BCGP’s long term goals?

BCGP Survey Answers

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia posted a survey to its website to solicit feedback so they can chart their course towards the future. I chose to post my replies on my blog so a differing viewpoint from the traditional BCGP employee/volunteer/member party line.

A.Why do you support the Bicycle Coalition?

I need to be convinced that I should. All to often the Bicycle Coalition takes credit for work done by others. A recent example is the BGGPs 2013 campaign about family cycling which failed to give credit to Philly Kidical Mass for creating this local movement. Or the lack of public action, after Amtrak rejected the BCGP's e-mail asking about improved bike parking as part of the upgrades to 30^th St. Station. A petition does not count, especially one that only garners 184 signatures. There should have been several thousand signatures given the size of their membership.

B. Complete the following sentence: The Bicycle Coalition is the primary organization in our region that:

Advocates for bicycling and bicyclists with a variety of government agencies

Encourages people to try bicycling

Works with neighborhoods and schools to promote safe routes for schoolchildren

Provides bicycling education programs and events

Works with planners to increase and improve bike lanes and other infrastructure

Brings bicyclists together to have a more effective voice in public policy

Promotes safety for bicyclists

Provides youth development programs

As you can see there are a lot of choices to select from. Which makes me ask, has the BCGP taken on so much that their efforts have become diluted? Frankly, I have my concerns. There are times when I have to wonder what the BCGP's priorities are.

Twice a year the BCGP makes a big announcement about the need for volunteers for their bike count, but they never make an equally big announcement of the results Because they never announce them.

Or after all of the time, money, and effort they invested to get the city to develop bike lanes they gave control to all future bike lane development to the Philadelphia City Council. Instead of leaving it in the hands of trained traffic engineers. In return for this deal they got a Complete Street bill which included cars parked in bike lanes getting tickets Seen an cars with tickets recently?

Even small things slip through the cracks. Get hit by a truck while riding your bike, end up in an intensive care unit at the hospital, and the BCGP will tell the world. Want to know if the driver is arrested or charged? That's when they stop being an advocacy group.

C. The Bicycle Coalition recently merged with the Cadence Cycling Foundation, a youth development organization. Cadence uses cycling to engage undeserved youth in Philadelphia. Were you aware of the merger?

Yes

D. How do you feel about the merger?

I'm not sure. What does the BCGP envision for its future youth programming? Do they have the staff and budget to do it?

E. Over the next three years, how should we prioritize our work? (check no more than 3)

Expanding bike lanes and trails throughout the region, especially the Circuit

Promoting Philadelphia’s new bike share (public bicycle) program

Public education about road safety

Youth development programs that teach life skills through bicycling

Intermodal transportation – for example, making easier to take bikes on SEPTA

Promoting Women Bike PHL

Engage in more political campaigns that benefit bicycling

After the the Safe Streets bill politicized future bike lane development the BCGP should steer clear of any future political campaigns until they are prepared to stop negotiating away significant gains. Because when they make an agreement it affects every cyclist, not just their members.

The BCGP appears to very good at promoting other organizations and individuals work. Promoting bike share, promoting Women Bike PHL, promoting road safety; While this is all very well and good it leaves the onus for results on the people who develop and run these programs. The BCGP needs stop promoting and start doing.

Developing the expansion and connecting the trail system in the counties surrounding Philadelphia, While it is needed it is going to take decades and tens of millions dollars to move forward. So at the same time I would like to see the BCGP focus on a short term goal, one that would benefit many people in Philadelphia. When Philadelphia replaced parking meters with muni-meters the amount of bicycle parking plummeted. Some of these poles were converted into bike parking. But at a cost of $1500.00 per conversion and given city governments limited funding parking meter conversion became a short term solution.

The Bicycle Coalition should start a public campaign to encourage businesses large and small to install bicycle racks or individual meter conversions. There are plenty of studies already existing that show how bike lanes and bike parking increase sales for businesses. The City of Philadelphia has also done surveys showing the real need for increased bicycle parking. It is time to put this information to use.

If the BCGP wants to show signs of change it can start with posting the results of the survey. To demonstrate that they are open about what the public expects of them in the future. Otherwise this survey is going to be no different from the bike counts statistics that are never revealed. 

What Statistics?

As the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia prepares for its fall bicycle count a question needs to be asked. What are they trying to hide or are they just lazy? If you go to the BCGP website you will find that the most recent statistics they have from their bike counts is from 2008, FIVE years old. IS there something within the last five years statistics the BCGP does not want people to see. But that's assuming the BCGP is smarter than they appear and that is not the case. The BCGP is lazy.

How difficult is it for the BCGP to compile the one years statistics, format and publish them on their website in a timely manner? Obviously very difficult. Its time for the BCGP to return to the basics, being advocates for Philadelphia cyclists. Something they lost sight of when they gave control of bicycle lane approval to Philadelphia's city council. Turning future bicycle lane development into a political tool to be used by a group of people who may not always be looking out for Philadelphia's best interests and lack the knowledge of a civil engineer.

With the BCGP's newest strategy of “Completing the Circuit”, a plan to create a larger trail system that connects Philadelphia with the suburbs. You have to ask yourself how do you hold an organization like the BCGP accountable when they make a questionable agreement that affects every cyclist and not just their membership?

28 Days Later

On Thursday, May 16, 2013 a cyclist was struck in Philadelphia by a tractor-trailer dump truck. The victim was hit so hard they were taken to the hospital in critical condition and the bicycle shattered into multiple pieces. As seen in this newscast. Safe for the office, click here for link.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia reported this on its blog and let everyone know that “We will provide updates when they become available”. 28 days later, nothing.

If you are a bicycling advocacy organization and you post about cyclists hurt in accidents it would really help if you follow up. Especially when the cyclist is taken to the hospital in critical condition.  One would hope that the BCGP would have sufficient contacts within the Philadelphia Police Department and other agencies to get detailed information.

Here are some of the questions that I, and hopefully others would like to see answered:

Was the driver of the vehicle ticketed or charged and if not, why?

Does the cyclist have medical insurance and if not is there a fund I can donate to?

Does the cyclist need money to help bills because they are unable to work due to the extensive injuries and where can I donate?

Is there any type of community awareness ride being planned to set a marker warning people what happened?

  

If the BCGP reports bad news it would be nice if they could follow up with some good news and tell everyone how they can help. Inquiring minds want to know.