Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

It seems that yet again when it comes to bicycle infrastructure in Philadelphia we have been we have been subjected to the Machiavellian manipulations of yet another duplicitous member of Philadelphia’s City Council. This time it was Councilman Kenyatta Johnson when he wrote a letter against the creation of a protected bicycle lane on Lombard St. That letter will put an end to any attempt at restarting this project, ever.

Keep in mind that the “protected lane” was going to be nothing more than plastic delineator posts and as‏ @bikemamadelphia on Twitter stated; “Flexi-posts are like the press on nails of bike infrastructure”. Easy to install and equally easy for cars to tear them off the road.

So how did we arrive at this situation? Part of this was the process that Councilman Johnson and his office used to make sure they got the results they wanted. First they solicited opinions from the public on this matter and then further narrowed the field by only counting those comments from people within his district. Which resulted in 100 phone calls and e-mails being counted, 80 were against and 20 were in favor of the bike lane. Seems pretty cut and dried, at least on the surface. The problem is that the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia submitted 217 comments they collected; 91 were within Councilman Johnson’s district and 87 of those were in support of a protected bike lane. So now it was 80 against and 107 in favor of the protected bike lane. Not so cut and dried any more.

So how were these additional pro bike lane comments ignored? Simple, according Councilman Johnson’s Communication Director; “The ones reported to me were “direct comments,” explained Johnson’s communications director, Kaitlyn Manasterski. The 80 percent opposed were “among the immediate neighbors who contacted us.” This is the equivalent of overturning the results of an election, by disqualifying absentee ballots because they were mailed in and not submitted in person.

This brings us back to a larger issue, that being the bad deal the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia made with Philadelphia City Council a few years ago. The one where in exchange for a safe streets bill the BCGP agreed to let members of the City Council have the ability to veto any new bike lanes. Without cause or reason. This is not the first time this deal has bit cyclists in the ass and it won’t be the last.

I wish I could say I was completely surprised by how this played out. I saw Councilman Johnson’s multiple appearances at various meetings for the Schuylkill River Trail Watch. He made a lot of promises and did not deliver on any of them.

At the end of the day it is clear to me that Councilman Johnson and his staff had predetermined agenda when it came to the protected bicycle lane on Lombard St.

They rigged the public opinion process to get a result they wanted. The used Councilmanic privilege to ensure that any future attempt to reopen this conversation will never happen. At the end of the day Councilman Johnson has strengthened my opinion that Philadelphia’s City Council is nothing more than a Council of Con Men.

Mañana, mañana

Last spring assaults on the Schuylkill River Trail in Philadelphia reached a point where they were being posted on Facebook. Most them fit a standard profile, groups of black children on BMX bikes harassing and groping women runners.

The Philadelphia Police Department appeared mystified as to why these incidents went largely unreported. This was often due to a number of factors; 911 operators who were unable to locate the SRT within their system to dispatch the police, the incidents happened so fast that victims did not know what to do, and the police who have crimes with higher priority. This culminated in the winter when a series of armed robberies on the trail occurred and resulted in arrests.

In a moment of inspiration John Lyons from the Facebook page RUN215 came up with a unique solution. Create a neighborhood watch to provide coverage to supplement the police, a trail watch. Announced at a press event in February 2016 the SRT Watch garnered the support of eleven local groups and non-for profits. Then nothing and problems continue along the trail.

June 2 - Homeless man threatens and chases female jogger.

May 21 - Two flashers on the trail

April 13 - Kids throw rocks at cyclist

April 8 - 12 year old child attempts to punch female runner

April 5 - Group of youths on BMX bikes grope and harass female runner

Some problems along the SRT have been addressed. Broken lights are being repaired, 911 has added the SRT to their maps, and markers have been placed along the trail to help people determine their location if they call 911.

Although the SRT Watch has held four training sessions there has been no indication when they are going to start patrolling. You would have thought the membership of RUN215 alone would have been enough to fill out the roll call for the SRT Watch. Let alone all of the people who help support the organizations are backing the SRT Watch.

I had high hopes that patrols would start in the spring, giving the SRT Watch time to work out the kinks of running this type of operation. Unfortunately there have been no informative updates from the SRT Watch since its press event.

Given the lack of updates the SRT Watch is becoming another example of the “Philly Shrug” (http://bit.ly/1U4nJOt). The Philly Shrug is a phrase that is used to embody a number of behaviors that relinquish self responsibility or reinforce apathy in the face of obstacles (cultural, political, etc.) and are specific to the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (http://bit.ly/1WHpDVp). It’s the antipathy that Philly residents take towards corrupt politicians, crime, a failing school system, and the pervasive litter in the streets that no one wants to take responsibility for.

I fear that in the end the SRT Watch will be yet another Philly Shrug. Unable to sustain itself for any length of time to make any kind of a difference because not enough people to care to make a difference.

Footnote: After I finished writing this post a woman was attacked and had her face slashed by an assailant (http://bit.ly/22WXF8c). At this point Councilman Kenyatta Johnson announced that the start of the SRT Watch would be accelerated to start this month (June 2016). What is really tragic is that someone had to get hurt for this to happen. It also makes me question how much longer the delay would have been had this not happened. Yet another example of the Philly Shrug.