Oh, NO!!

There is a new ordinance that has been introduced to the Philadelphia City Council sponsored by City Councilman at Large David Oh. On the surface this bill is nothing more than an ineffective gesture to deal with cars and trucks parking in bike lanes.

By raising the fines from $50 in Philadelphia and $75 in Center City to $200 in Philadelphia and $300 in Center City. The problem is that the bill has no language in it to address the abysmal lack of enforcement on the part of the Philadelphia Parking Authority. The reason for this is that the PPA is run by the state government, so it is not accountable to city government.

It is the first part of the bill that has far darker and much more serious implications.

§ 12-804. Riding on Roadways and Bicycle Paths.

(2) Persons riding bicycles on roads without designated bicycle lanes shall share the road and not impede the normal and reasonable movement of vehicle traffic.

* * *

When the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia contacted Councilman Oh for a definition of “impeding” his response was:

“Not impede is in the ordinance already. I’ve simply taken that language and I take it to mean if a road has a specific speed limit — such as 35 or 40 miles an hour, or 25 — those are meant for vehicles that can go that rate of speed. Typically: cars, motorcycles maybe. So, a bicycle that cannot go that speed should share the road and move over so cars can continue to go in that direction.”

This is a very vague and dangerous definition, police could easily pull over cyclists on the grounds of impeding traffic. Then use it as an opportunity to stop, search, and question anyone they consider suspicious. Without probable cause.

And if you think it can’t happen here then take a look at when the Tampa, FL Police started writing tickets to hundreds of people using archaic laws relating to bicycles.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/how-riding-your-bike-can-land-you-in-trouble-with-the-cops---if-youre-black/2225966

Councilman Oh’s bill is a return to 2009 when the Philadelphia City Council attempted to pass punitive legislation against cyclists. Like $1000 fines for running stop signs and confiscating “brakeless”, fixed gear bikes. With Indego having reached 100,00 rides in two months since its launch and the growing number of cyclists in and around Philadelphia. this potential bill is not just a big step backwards. It creates the potential for future legal problems for the City of Philadelphia. 

The Bicycle Coalition has stated that, "we do not support this bill as written”. At the Philadelphia Bicycle Journal I do not support this bill at all, no matter how many times it is rewritten.

2014 - A year in review

Social Rides

The social ride scene in Philadelphia still mystifies me. There are several rides now with consistent schedules; Take Your Time Bike Rides, Philly Bike Party, and the Philly Full Moon Bike Ride. The question seems to be whether the ridership is going to grow? Take the Baltimore Bike Party; its first ride had 50 riders and within a few months it had grown to hundreds and in some cases thousands of riders. While this many riders creates its own specific challenges, it still leaves me wondering why Philadelphia residents and college students seem to be uninterested in any type of social ride.

Velodrome - Just another 6000 seat stadium

One announcement that drew some attention was the intent to build a velodrome in Philadelphia. A world class indoor  facility that could be used by Olympic athletes. There are two slight problems. First the developers behind this project have to raise 100 million dollars and they have pledged to do this with any government funding. Second, they will make it a profitable business.

As much as I would love to have an all weather velodrome in the heart Philadelphia. Lets face it a velodrome is never going to be profitable. Fortunately the developers have a back up plan. The velodrome will also be able to function as a 6000 seat concert venue. So is this really a group of altruistic developers who want to build a world class velodrome? Or this this just an attempt to open another 6000 seat arena? I’m not betting on altruism.

Mayors Bicycle Advocacy Board - All racing all the time

Mayor Nutter in attempt make Philadelphia bicycle friendly city created a Bicycle Advisory Board. The BAB team’s job is to find ways to promote cycling within Philadelphia to residents and businesses. While promoting cycling to the residents and business owners of Philadelphia all very well and good, the backgrounds members of the board say other wise and is more focused on the other goal; Their other goal is “to create, market, and promote national and international cycling races in Philadelphia to attract the finest and most highly-rated bicycle riders to compete in our City, including supporting and raising funds for the annual Philly Bicycling Classic.”

Eleven of the board members of are involved in racing and three in advocacy. The final BAB member is the most questionable of the group, Lisa Nutter, Mayor Nutter’s wife. It appears nepotism abounds in forming the BAB team. 

Given the high ratio of BAB members involved with racing and the utter lack of people representing the average cyclist in Philadelphia its is clear that the BAB’s primary mission will be promoting racing. Anything beyond racing I’ll wait to see how effective they really will be.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia scores a trifecta
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has had a year to be thankful for. The Safe Streets bill has become an albatross around their neck equal to the story of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. This year the BCGP scored a trifecta.

1. Bicycle Lanes vs Bill Greenlee
Remember when the BCGP thought that giving the Philadelphia City Council final decision making authority for the installation of new bike lanes would not cause any problems? So did we. (http://tinyurl.com/o3q5ce2) It didn’t take long for Councilman At Large Bill Greenlee to decide that that would be no bike lane would be installed along 6 blocks of 22nd St. Why? Because he said so. And there is nothing that can be done to change this thanks to the BCGP’s agreement with the Philadelphia City Council.

2. #Unblockbikelanes = #QuestionableResults
Then there is the #unblockbikelanes. The idea was that people could tweet the Philadelphia Parking Authority cars that were parked in bike lanes. In return the PPA would step up ticketing of these vehicles. Unfortunately that has not be  en the case.

In the first quarter (http://tinyurl.com/njbns95) the PPA wrote close to same number of tickets on 2013 as in 2014. So the BCGP leaped into action and talked to the PPA and the number of tickets issued by 96% over 2013 in the second quarter (http://tinyurl.com/prddy25). Fortunately the PPA counterbalanced this offset by issuing 20% fewer tickets (http://tinyurl.com/qjrrywz) in the third quarter of 2014 compared to 2013. I expect the fourth quarter numbers to be equally dismal.

Some have even joked that the #unblockbikelanes is some sort of bizarre drinking game. This is yet another example the BCGP negotiating a deal that lacks any protection if either party fails to uphold the agreement.

3. Getting less bang for the buck 
The final element of the trifecta was the $100,000 (http://tinyurl.com/kkp6xa5) spent to create ten artistic bike racks of questionable value. Lets hope that in 2015 the BCGP will be willing to raise half that for ordinary bikes racks of real benefit.

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?

Sisyphus had an easier task

For the past few years the Philadelphia Mayor's office has been testing parklets throughout Philadelphia. A parklet is created by temporarily converting two parking spaces into an out door seating area. For anyone to use. Studies have shown that with the increased foot traffic businesses have seen an increase of 15% to 40% in revenue.

With this success of parklets the Philadelphia City Council is now moving a bill through its chambers to cut through the red tape of the permitting process the Streets Department uses. And by eliminating red tape I mean that the Philadelphia City Council has once again made it impossible for any new pedestrian or bicycling infrastructure to be created.

Now if you want to get a bicycle corral or parklet in your neighborhood you only have to do one of two things. The first is to get 100% of the community would have to agree to the installation of a bike corral or a parklet. Which will be an easy-peasy thing to achieve since we can always count on a entire community to agree to on a single subject. All it will take is 1 person to stop the process in its tracks.

Fortunately there is a second option. Get your district Philadelphia City Council member to write a letter stipulating that he or she felt the great majority of residents were in favor. Which leaves at the mercy of professional politicians who make up the Philadelphia City Council. Meaning you are going owe and be owned by your district Philadelphia City Council member for a future I.O.U. You may not like.

The harsh reality of this bill is that the Philadelphia City Council has eliminated all of the red tape that normally makes obtaining a permit possible a Sisyphean task.

It seems that every time Mayor Nutter dares to create any kind of infrastructure that benefits pedestrians and cyclists you can always count on Philadelphia City Council to do everything they can to turn it into a political power play. And with this bill moving through Philadelphia City Council it appears nothing has changed.

Olley, olley, oxen free

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has finally revealed the details of the Safe Streets bill they were negotiating just in time to have it summarily rushed through committee and city council to make sure there was the illusion of public discourse and approval.

There are some aspects of the bill that in small ways will provide protection for bicyclists; two existing laws have been amended. The first now allows cyclists to ride two abreast instead of single file and the second does not require cyclists to ride in a bicycle lane if one is available. While these may seem minor, almost petty changes it does protect the bicycling community from potential retaliatory ticketing by the police. Which a cyclist in New York City was subjected to when he asked a police officer to stop blocking a bicycle lane with his squad car.

It also raises the fines for cyclists who run red lights, stop signs, and riding on the sidewalk. Holds drivers responsible for dooring and most importantly parking in bicycle lanes. This will not resolve the problems of church parking on Spruce and Pine St. as this is a long standing deal with the city and it is not going to change.

Councilman Mark Squilla has made statements that lead me to wonder if this bill is the tip of the iceberg. That may lead to more restrictive actions to come, since he has described it as “a good start”. He has concerns that “the bill doesn't specifically address enforcement, a bone of contention” The problem is that you can not mandate the Philadelphia Police Department enforce these new traffic laws any more than any other.

While this bill does address some of the long standing issues regarding bicycle infrastructure in Philadelphia it has come at great cost. The Philadelphia City Council passed a bill this spring that gives them the final decision about bicycle lane placement. Leaving infrastructure in the hands of a group of people whose decisions will be swayed by populist opinion instead of experienced professionals like traffic engineers. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia signed off on that bill as “A Bill We Could Live With”. Lets hope that this doesn’t become something that comes back to haunt us.

Who Watches the Watchers?

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia's Annual Membership meeting happened on Sunday, October 14 and they are still very reticent in revealing any details on the Safe Streets bill they are negotiating with the Philadelphia City Council. Which makes me ask, what are they trying to hide?

I went to the Philadelphia City Council website and found Bill 120532 complete with a PDF file of the 4 page bill. The bill is designed to raise the fine for cyclists running red lights from $3 to $100.00, which is in line with current state mandates Along with dooring, and cars parking in bicycle lanes. It includes some well-intentioned statements asking city agencies to take the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists into consideration when planning city infrastructure. While this is all very well and good, there are no indications as to what, if any, fines will be applied to people who park in bicycle lanes.

The concern is the current state of negotiations and the final bill when it is presented. Based on this statement made by Sarah Clarke Stuart, Campaign Director for the BCGP, made to the Philadelphia Weekly;  “We have been having productive meetings with the administration about [the bill],” We’re still waiting for what they come back with, then we have to meet with Councilman Squilla and we’ll know [what the final version will look like].” The BCGP has absolutely no leverage over the Philadelphia City Council; the bill that gave council members final authority over the installation of bicycle lanes in Philadelphia has been passed. All we can hope for is that they will honor whatever deal they made with the BCGP to get it passed. Worse yet the final results could be so watered down that cyclists will continue to face bicycle lanes used as parking spaces with no repercussions.

At a recent volunteer meeting the BCGP gave an update to its volunteers on the status of the bill, but on its blog they only said “there would be pizza” and how the bill “may have a large impact on bicycling in Philadelphia”. It's time that the BCGP updates all of the cyclists that will be impacted by this bill, not just their urban volunteers and wealthy suburban donors.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is acting on behalf of all of the cyclists in Philadelphia it's time they provide an update before the bill is finalized to make sure this is what everyone finds acceptable. As opposed to what the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia can live with.

Dancing with the Devil

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In May 2011 the Philadelphia City Council tried to force a bill through that would have allowed the Philadelphia City Council to have final decision on new bicycle lanes on a case-by-case basis. Taking it out of the hands traffic engineers who have the experience and training and leaving it the hands of a group of people who will base their decision on what will get them reelected.

The Philadelphia City Council introduced this bill just before the Labor Day weekend and the hearing was held the day the Labor Day weekend. In an effort to get the bill passed while avoiding any input from the public. It didn't work. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia mobilized its supporters though the use of Twitter and Facebook. So the City Council changed the hearing time from late afternoon to early afternoon. When that didn't work the City Council prevented people from speaking by claiming they were supporters of the BCGP and therefore not part of the general public. And yet in spite of all of this the bill was stopped in its tracks.

This May the Philadelphia City Council presented the same bill, using the same methods. But something changed, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia caved in. Proclaiming it “a bill we can live with”. Sure Alex Doty, the BCGP's Executive Director, will claim he negotiated a complete streets bill, which would finally address cars parking in bicycle lanes.  Initially scheduled for a hearing on June 14, it was placed on hold due to problems with the city budget, with the BCGP's fervent hope that the bill would be passed by September or October of this year.

So here we are in the beginning October with no sign of any further news on this groundbreaking safe streets bill. Well the BCGP in a recent blog post plans to update their volunteers  “pending City Council legislation which may have a large impact on bicycling in Philadelphia.”. I would have been more comfortable with “a positive change” or “significant improvement”. The question that should be asked is, by allowing the Philadelphia City Council's bill to pass uncontested the BCGP have no guarantee that the safe streets bill is not watered down or more conditions favorable to the Philadelphia City Council are attached to it.

The vast majority of the cyclists in Philadelphia that the BCGP claims to speak and act on their behalf. The ones who are not local volunteers or generous suburban donors will just have to wait until they deign us with the information. The members Philadelphia City Council have made repeated attempts to politicize bicycling and infrastructure in Philadelphia and now the BCGP has enabled this behavior. The BCGP thinks they may be managing the situation however if you dance with the devil, the devil doesn't change, the devil changes you.

Stu Bykofksy Rides Again

 

It's official a bill on bicycle lanes that a minority of the city council tried to sneak past last year is back again in all its glory. Philadelphia City Council Bill 12037, a bill which will require all new bicycle lanes to get City Council approval first.  

This time the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia chose to negotiate with the City Council. The committee got what it wanted a requirement that all bicycle lanes be approved by an ordinance by the City Council. The caveat being that this would only apply if the bicycle took a way a lane of traffic or parking. Which describes every bicycle lane installed in Philadelphia. In addition if the City Council fails to pass an ordinance approving than the bicycle lane has to be removed, within 8 months of the lane being installed.

All in all the terms of this bill way very heavily in the favor of the Philadelphia City Council and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia seemed rather quiet about this. Until the BCGP announced that had made a deal in which Councilman Squilla agreed to introduce a safe streets bill. That would make Philadelphia's traffic code conform to PA traffic code in several ways:

• Makes the penalty for a bike running a red light $100;
• Allows two bikes to ride abreast & repeals the mandatory side path rule;
• Prohibits opening a car door in a travel lane unless it is safe to do so;
• Prohibits parking in bike lanes.

A convenient fact that Stu Bykofsky has left out of his tale of biking Philadelphia, on a protected bicycle lane. So gloat all you want Stu, but this time the bikeheads and pedalphiles got a better deal out of the Philadelphia City Council that far exceeds what you think is a win.

Philadelphia City Council's Three Blind Mice

 It seems that three blind mice from the Philadelphia City Council are causing mischief. Philadelphia is a city rife with serious issues in need of the city councils urgent attention. A murder rate from guns at an average of one per day, a school district that is facing a financial short fall of 200 million dollar due to mismanagement, and 40,000 abandoned properties with millions of dollars in taxes uncollected. These properties have blighted neighborhoods and recently caused the death of two Philadelphia fire fighters.

Instead the three blind mice of the city council, MarkSquilla, Bill Greenlee, and, Ciy Council President Darrel Clarke are intent on revisiting the past. Trying to enact a policy requiring all bicycle lanes within Philadelphia to get city council approval. In May 2011 the city council tried to enact a similar policy, in an underhanded, but expected manner for Philadelphia politics. The bill was announced just days before the Memorial Day weekend and fast tracked to be voted on just after the holiday weekend. When the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia mobilized its membership to speak at the meeting the time for the public to speak was moved up and when that didn’t work one council member tried to disqualify everyone who spoke against the bill by claiming they were members of the Bicycle Coalition were not part of the public.

A recent post on the BCGP website these council members are taking the same approach, with hearings to occur in late May, most likely using the identical bill from last year. This also means that we can expect more of the same hearing delays as last year. An aspect of this bill claims that it is trying to incorporate input from the local community. That is until the community disagrees with the politics and  lack of vision of city council members.

It's truly pathetic that the Philadelphia City Council continues to use bicycle infrastructure as way to distract from real issues that need to be addressed. 

A Call to Arms – After Action Report

Councilman Bill Greenlee has agreed to table his bill requiring a vote from the Philadelphia City Council on the installation of bicycle lanes, for the moment. While consistency and transparency was the battle cry of Council members Green, Greenlee, and DiCicco when it came to installing new bicycle lanes. Obfuscation and opacity was the process used in the attempt to move this bill forward.

The Time Line

This bill was presented Thursday May 26, on the verge of the Memorial Day weekend in the hopes that no one would notice it. When the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia did, the bill was moved to a fast track vote for June 2, announced on May 31, again trying to take advantage of the Memorial Day weekend. When that didn't work the bill was moved from being last on the agenda to the middle of the agenda, during the committee meeting.

The Response

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia should be commended for making effective use of e-mail ad social media to get the word out that created over 400 e-mails to Streets Committee members. As well as Twitter to update and alert anyone planning on attending the meeting on June 2.

The Committee

During the actual meeting Council Members Green, Greenlee, and DiCicco were dismissive and contemptuous of anyone who came to speak, including the representative from the mayors office. 60 of the people who came to speak were not considered part of the general public and were instead referred to as members of the BCGP. DiCicco claimed he only got negative comments about the bike lanes and Green said bike lanes have nothing to do with traffic or public safety.

What would I do?

Its only a matter of time before Councilman Frank DiCicco finds another patsy. This is his second attempt to dismantle bicycling infrastructure and try to pass punitive bills against cyclists and I'm sure it won't be his last. I still believe that in the future any response should include a Courteous Mass protest ride past the home of a bills sponsor and includes a stop at a nearby post office for everyone to mail letters to the council members involved. Along with a media alert to ensure that their actions can't be hidden from the public.

When is a bike lane not a bike lane – Part II

The answer remains the same, when its in Philadelphia.

If you read my Call to Arms post, you are aware that the Philadelphia City Council is attempting to pass a bill that would require City Council approval for any new bicycle lanes to be installed. Something that is not required for bus stops or new lanes for cars. Now the City Council is fast tracking the bill for a vote on Wednesday, June 2 with hearings at 2pm. Giving the public only that time to provide input.

This is the sort of underhanded brand of politics that gives Philadelphia a bad name. There are far greater problems in Philadelphia than this and the deliberate attempt the City Council to prevent discussion makes it even worse. All this will do is create piecemeal development of infrastructure subject to the whim's of politicians. If City Council members want to score some points to get reelected they should focus on real issues like the schools, crime, or the trash that gets dumped in vacant lots and parks.

I hope everyone will make an effort attend the hearing and speak out against this bill. For more information about the hearing please visit this site. If this bill goes through the ride I hope someone will organize the ride I proposed.

A call to arms

A call to arms

In 2009 Philadelphia City Councilmen Councilman Frank DiCicco attempted to introduce a bill that would have levied excessive fines and bicycle confiscation, far in excess of what automobile drivers might have to face. In addition requiring everyone owning a bicycle who is over the age of 12 to register their bicycle with the police department at a cost of $20.00 per bicycle. Fortunately nothing came of it.

Now City Councilman at Large Large William K. Greenly has decided to make it next to impossible to create bicycle lanes. By introducing a bill that would require Philadelphia's City council to approve any future bicycle lanes, co-sponsored by Council members Darrell Clarke and Frank DiCicco. It appears that bicyclist and bicycle infrastructure have become the political low hanging fruit of the Philadelphia City Council an easy way to score points with local voters while achieving no benefit. Requiring City Council approval of all new bike lanes is bad policy because City Council approval is not needed for new vehicular travel lanes, crosswalks or bus stops.

Do you really want something that will have long term impact to the city of Philadelphia in the hands of a group of people who are only concerned about the next election so they can keep their jobs instead of qualified traffic engineers. Philadelphia has bad track record with it's elected officials and government agencies. We've seen city council members abuse the DROP program and the Philadelphia Housing Administration and the school system are both under federal investigation for abuse of power and misappropriation of funds. The Philadelphia City Council keeps trying to engage in brinksmanship almost like a game of Russian roulette in The Deer Hunter and intimidate bicyclists throughout Philadelphia.

So what would I do?

While the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is asking people to e-mail City Council members, what is really needed is a visible public response, one that can not be ignored. I would create a Courteous Mass Ride, a group ride that obeys the traffic laws so the ride becomes a parade instead of peloton. Each rider would bring a letter addressed to Councilmen William Greenlee, Darrell Clarke and Frank DiCicco. it would depart from City Hall the route would pass by Councilman Greenlee's home and then over to the post office at 900 N. 19^th St. in Philadelphia where the letters would be mailed. If you take this approach it could take 15 to 30 minutes for the entire mass to pass his house and with advance notice to the media would make a great photo opportunity. Similar rides could also be created for the bills sponsors.

Any volunteers who want to annoy some sacred cows?

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