Where Would Jesus Park?

In 2009 bike lanes were installed on Spruce and Pine streets to create a safe passage for cyclists to get across town. Prior to this there had been two car lanes and on Sunday's the local churches had an unwritten agreement with the Philadelphia Police and the Philadelphia Park Authority. Allowing their parishioners to park in the travel lane for Sunday services. When the bike lanes were installed this practice continued.

Five years later the number of cyclists in Philadelphia and the use of bike lanes has increased, while this practice continued. That was until Sunday, April 13, 2014 when the founder of Where Would Jesus Park held a peaceful protest on Spruce St. between 17^th and 18^th at the location of the Tenth Presbyterian Church.

You should read his account (click here for link). He spoke with parishioners and Pastor William Spokes offered to start a dialogue to find a solution. Based on that dialogue the WWJP founder came up with a reasonable solution that matched my own expectations. All of which require a simple change in church operations, that has no impact on people being able to attend Sunday services. Including promoting the use of spaces the church has leased at two nearby parking lots.

I believe that Pastor William Spoke of the Tenth Presbyterian Church and WWJP will be able to come to an equitable solution. That will set a new standard for the rest of the churches along Spruce and Pine streets.

In the meantime the peaceful protest will continue on Sunday, April 20 from 8am to 1pm. Please stop by,  if only for a few minutes to show your support.

****As of April 20, 2014, after a single protest this campaign has been suspended.****

Go # yourself

In December the Philadelphia Parking Authority and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia rolled out a new initiative, #unblockbikelanes. A Twitter hash-tag where people could report vehicles parked in bike lanes. But this is only being used to gather information to determine locations that are problem areas. Enforcement is still a ways off. 

While you can search for the #unblockbikelanes hash-tag, its hard to get a sense of where the problem areas are. So to that end I have created a Google map to track the reported locations. 

There are some criteria that I have used delivery; vehicles like UPS, Fed-Ex and similar delivery services are excluded because they are parked for a very short period of time The same goes for PPA vehicles and emergency vehicles that are doing their job. However police vehicles parked for nothing more than getting coffee should be setting an example for the rest of the public. Parking in bike lanes on Sundays along Spruce and Pine streets is not going to change so just tale the lane and if the cars honk, to bad for them. 

So what do you need to do? Take picture of the vehicle (you don't need the license plate),  Then post the picture and the location to Twitter using the #unblockbikelanes hash tag. With warm weather not that far off lets make sure that from now to September this hast tag is flooded with pictures vehicles parked in bike lanes. It will be harder for the PPA to avoid implementing an enforcement plan by next year. There will be a copy of the map embedded on the Philadelphia Bicycle Journal's Facebook page so you can watch for updates. 
Black Pins = Police car
White pins = commercial or private vehicles
Blue pins = Multiple vehicles in one spot

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.

How to write a bicycle column like Stu Bykofsky

 
Many people who regularly read Stu Bykofsky's columns sometimes wonder how they could write such riveting articles about bicycles without the years of experience that Mr. Bykofsky has acquired. Fortunately if you follow this basic formula you to can write with the same level expertise.

Masquerade opinion as fact – Mr. Bykofsky is a columnist and a professional grumpy old man; his articles are commentary based on opinion, his opinion. Unlike a reporter who has to investigate, conduct interviews, and may even witness actual events. Anything Mr. Bykofsky writes is not subject to any type of verification and short of libel he is free to imply anything he wants as long as it his opinion. Such as all cyclists are lawbreakers because they run red lights do not come to full stops at stop signs, or ride on the sidewalk.

Manipulate the data – The one thing Mr. Bykofsky is unable to contend with is actual data and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia's Annual Bicycle count is a key example. Stu's only claims to debunk the data is:

That the BCGP is partisan because they are a bicycle advocacy group, so I challenge Stu to provide his own verifiable count. I have no doubt that there are plenty of interns available at the newspaper.

Stu loves to talk about how bicycle lanes are only used by 2.1%, of Philadelphia’s population in reality that is 32,046 residents. Who are not using parking spaces, clogging the roads with cars or putting more pressure on SEPTA, which is underfunded and overstressed. For all you sports fans the list below should help put that 2.1%, 32,046 cyclists, into perspective.

Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles) – seats 67,954

Citizens Bank Park (Phillies) – seats 43,647

Be a bully – One of the key elements in the profile of a bully is to dehumanize your subject through name-calling. Mr. Bykofsky has this down to a science by referring to cyclists as gearheads, cyclopaths, and my personal favorite, pedalphiles. So if you can come up with a catchy yet demeaning play on words you have mastered yet another step in this process.

Find a patsy – Mr. Bykofsky is at his best when has a patsy. Someone he can use as a clown or a fool to make it appear as if he is better informed or gives him the illusion of street cred.

Get a gimmick – Writing columns on the evils of cyclists get old very fast, you can only repackage the same opinions a limited number of ways before your columns become predictable. So Stu came up with a gimmick, Stu goes for a bike ride in the summer. It lasts about 30 minutes and is along a protected path, which means he never comes close to a car let alone sees one.

Follow all of these steps and soon you will have a high paid career like Mr. Bykofsky. Without having to waste all that money on a journalism degree and spend years learning your craft.

Blink and you missed it

Recently on the Philadelphia Daily News website, part of Philly.com, they had an article/press release on a recent survey of the numbers of bicycle commuters in Philadelphia. But in the blink of an eye it was gone. What made this survey unique was that it was not performed by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia; rather it was the Center City District. The Center City District and Central Philadelphia Development Corporation are business-led organizations that work together to enhance the competitiveness and attractiveness of Philadelphia's downtown.

With this survey counts were made from 8:00am to 9:00am during the first two weeks of October of bicyclists entering into Philadelphia northbound, rain or shine. The CCD found their was a 10.5% increase in cyclists from 2010; from an average number of cyclists of 790 per hour to 2012 to 873 per hour. You can see the survey for yourself here.

Over the last few years Philadelphia Daily News opinion writer and professional grumpy old man Stu Bykofsky has claimed that the BCGP's bicycle survey is biased due to the partisan nature of the organization. As well as nit picky issues like they don't count bicycles when it rains, which is like counting people working on their tan when it rains at the Jersey Shore.

The Philadelphia City Planning Commission has recommended the installation of an additional 117 miles of bicycle lanes. Since the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia can no longer be trusted when it comes to its relationship with Philadelphia City Council and bicycle infrastructure. It will be surveys like this one that make sure the interests of all cyclists are represented.

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 Challenge to Stu Bykofsky

The true face of he who must not be named.

Finally spring has arrived in Philadelphia with a clear signal to all. It's not the first red robin or flower, nor is it the crack of the bat as the Phillies warm up for their first home game at Citizens Bank Park. No its a column from Stu Bykofsky columnist and professional grumpy old man for the Philadelphia Daily News about bicycles and bicycle lanes in Philadelphia.

While the specific nature of Mr. Bykofsky's column about the 10^th St. bicycle lane in Chinatown and the upcoming bill City Council members are trying to sneak through again is a separate blog post to be addressed at a later date. It's the vehemence and unsubstantiated opinion that he masquerades as fact Specifically his statement of;

I do have a problem with bicyclists who ignore the rules of the road to which they are subject as vehicles under Pennsylvania law. That means stay off the sidewalks, ride in the direction of traffic, full stops at stop signs and no blowing through red lights, the last two being things that nearly every pedalphile does.

It's not just the play on words of pedalphile, that's childish. It's his unproven and inflammatory statement how almost every cyclists does not stop at stop signs and run red lights. To which one can only say; ok Stu prove it. Provide a statically valid study which the results can be replicated. Or simply set a video camera on a tripod at a Philadelphia street corner that shows a high percentage of cyclists actively running red lights and stop signs within a given period of time. No editing and it must be stamped with a time code.

I'm sure Stu can convince some intern to do this, otherwise he should stick to yelling at clouds and telling small children to stay off his lawn.

Philadelphia Bicycle Lanes 2012

When is a bike lane a not a bike lane........wait for it......when it's in Philadelphia.

In past columns I've addressed the problem that cyclists face in Philadelphia. Bicycle lanes are treated as parking spaces, loading zones, and lanes of travel for cars. This problem is not unique to Philadelphia, but so far most of the attempts to address this problem are nothing more than venting. That does nothing to shame or change the behavior of drivers. These include My Bike Lane, new addition BKME, and a website run by a tattoo shop whose storefront faces a bike lane. While all this allows cyclists to vent it does nothing to change the driver’s behavior.

One of the most egregious and ongoing problems is the parking permits that are issued by the Beth Zion-Beth Israel Synagogue at 300 South 18th Street  and the Tenth Presbyterian Church at 1701 Delancey Street . These permits make it appear that people attending services can legally park in the bicycle lanes, when in reality they can't. So how did this happen?

This is courtesy of Charles Carmalt, Pedestrian & Bicycle Coordinator, Office of Transportation & Utilities of the City of Philadelphia. Who in a letter (Scroll down to see it) to the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia stated; During that period, my personal observations and my discussions with representatives of churches and synagogues made me realize that the issue was more complex than just allowing people to park for an hour or two on Sunday mornings. Services on religious holidays can create unexpected parking during the week.  Several Center City religious institutions generate a substantial amount of revenue from weddings, which are usually held on Saturday afternoons at churches and on Sunday afternoons at synagogues.  As a result, parking , including parking of limousines, will frequently occur in the afternoon.

Mr. Carmalt has opened a Pandora's box with this decision. By this logic any number of businesses, especially restaurants, could claim that they to need to use bicycle lanes for their customers because of the revenue they generate. No business or institution should be able to use bicycle lanes free of charge, when the parking is for revenue generation. Philadelphia is full of private and publicly operated parking lots that can accommodate these needs. Sharing the roads does not mean taking advantage of a loophole to fatten ones wallet.

So what steps are being taken to resolve this?

Recently a Facebook page has been created, The Philadelphia Bicycle Advocates, and plans to take on this issue with Mayor Nutter on Monday, January 23, 2012.

What would I do?

Any kind of counter protest will make cyclist appear as unreasonable towards religious institutions that only need a little extra parking one day a week. The religious institutions will parade elderly members who will need access to convenient parking.

The only viable solution will be to get some concessions from the Mayor’s office. Like extending the closure of River Dr. on Sunday mornings from 6am to 12:00pm to the full day for the entire length. As well as stepped  upped enforcement and ticketing of those people who park in the bicycle lanes the rest of the week.

Reader Feedback

Following the post about Chinatown and Bicycle Lanes I received this e-mail from Peter F. a reader in New York City about his recent experiences riding Philadelphia's bicycle lane. While many of us take for granted what we experience it is always interesting to see how an outsider experiences them.
 ******************************************************************

Nice blog!  I'm a NYC bike commuter, who was in Philly Friday....took my folder on AmTrak, as you can see from the pix.  Feel free to publish it and my account below! 

Here's a story of my return ride to Penn Station 30th from Independence Sq that I wrote to my friend, a fellow cyclist who lives in Philly:

Spruce Street bike lane is very nice. As you instructed, from Independence Square I picked it up a few blocks away and took it to 22nd Street which I thought you said.  But unable to get onto JFK Boulevard from 22nd I continued on it in search of the next Left to Penn Station. Which took me to the absolutely lovely new green painted bike lane on Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Like Dorothy finding the Yellow Brick Road, I was certain I arrived at the Nirvana of newly bike-able  Philly. I  hung a left toward the Art Museum  Surely there would be additional  bike routes there to lead me to 30th Street Penn Station. 

And yes, there are more pavement stripes that look like bike lanes at the Eakins Oval by the museum.  Nice!

Buoyed by this excellent experience I check Google Maps (unfortunately Ride the City, which maps bike routes in many cities, omits Philly) and saw promising walking directions via the Schuylkill River Trail path and figured I would take that. But I missed the entrance to the trail.

 No matter, following the circle another 100 feet or so I take a right on 24th Street which has a new painted  stripe on the right side. "I am a bike path" it says to me. Down the hill I ride, confident that I will emerge on a route back to JFK Boulevard.  

The "lane" gets narrower. "And what's with the trucks?" I say to myself  Seconds later I am on a narrow strip at the side of the US Highway 30 with no exit in sight until I get a half mile back to 15th Street!  Ugh!  Nothing like riding over sewer grates and discarded highway garbage with a few feet separating a concrete wall from 6 ton semis. And too narrow to turn around and go back. I commit to the terrifying ride to the first exit. Low gear and slow so if I fall I'll be on the wall side. 

I make it safe and sound, and once again am impressed by the pharmacologic effects of adrenalin! 

If you point me to a Philly DOT site I will compliment them on what is a much improved bike network but ask them to post a clear sign on the 24th street intersection that it leads to the highway and what looks like a bike lane is not one at all. Of course, they should paint diagonal lines in the space between the line and the curb so that it would be obvious this is curb space and not a lane.   The Philly bike network seems to be largely paint anyway, so this is inexpensive to do. 

Plenty of excitement for one day.  And looking at the map, you likely said 20th Street and not 22nd for the R turn from Spruce. That damn bike lane on 20th and the green painted beauty on Franklin seduced me into a false sense of a traffic-calmed Philly. It's rough side just a few moments away!

Chinatown and Bicycle Lanes

There has been an outbreak of NIMBYism in Chinatown. It appears no matter what is done to make Chinatown more accessible and create positive change there is a vocal minority seeking to maintain a status-quo. Instead of making an effort to benefit from these changes for the community and business they would rather impede and obfuscate.

A temporary bicycle lane from North 13th Street and South 10th Street between Market and Vine Streets has been created for a period of 3 to 6 months. A test to see if this is a viable location. It didn't take long for the standard list of excuses to surface, supported by the usual list of players from the private and public sectors.

First is 1st District City Council candidate Mark Squilla who suggested to Wilson Wan to organize a petition against the bike lane. This isn't the first time someone who is on the city council or running for city council has tried to go after bicycle lanes. Instead of doing their own dirty work, like DiCiccio and Greenlee, the ploy is to make this look like it is motivated by local citizens.

Next was Chinatown Watch Chairman Joe Eastman who feels that this is about city government dictating policy without taking any input from the community. When in reality his true concern was about; "This is a commercial area. If we lose any of these parking spaces, people will go somewhere else.” A sentiment also stated by Wilson Wan.

Last up is Jong Chin, who has owned a restaurant on Race Street since 1965 and Executive Director of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. He is concerned that the bike lanes will make the streets too narrow for fire trucks as well as buses that pass frequently en-route to New York City.

What everything boils down to is three motivations; politics, safety, and commerce.

Politics – Mark Squilla is exploiting local residents on an issue that will have little impact on community and has become a tactic used by current city council members to get their names in the paper. At the same time they avoid dealing with any of the real quality of life issues their constituents face like unsafe schools, crime and the no snitching mentality. Bike lanes are just low hanging fruit that require no real commitment or effort and gets their names in the paper.

Safety – A very common tactic is to claim that bicycle lanes will impede the ability for emergency vehicles to navigate through the street. As if somehow cyclists will not get out of the way of an emergency vehicle with it's lights and sirens running. If anything cyclist can get out of the way faster and leave more room than a car. This was the same excuse made when a bicycle lane was installed in front of Thomas Jefferson Hospital and yet no emergency vehicles have been delayed from accessing the hospital.

Commerce – This is what it really boils down to. Fear that a bicycle lane will lower the revenue of area businesses by reducing parking. In a city like Philadelphia where the majority of its residents get around using public transportation and an increasing number of cyclists. I seriously doubt that the loss of a small number of parking spaces is going to have any effect on a restaurant, more likely is a lack of imagination.

So what would I do?

If I were a restaurant I would have weekly cyclist special, it is much easier for a cyclist to pull over and lock their bike easier than a car. As a cyclist I would hold an organized ride to Chinatown where every rider would go into a restaurant in Chinatown along the bike lane and have lunch. Calling ahead and making reservations if possible.

Twits

In a day and age of instant gratification it never ceases to amaze me how quickly individuals will Tweet or post something to Facebook without thinking first. Worse yet is when an organization or business engages in reacting without thinking. They often fail to understand that by doing this they are giving their approval of the author of anything they repost.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia made a very egregious mistake on Wednesday, August 17, when they re-tweeted a post by Philebrity in which Philebrity posted a column about the recent objections of community leaders in Chinatown regarding the installation of bicycle lanes. They were referred to as Chu Bykofsky's. The membership of the BCGP held the the BCGP management team to task over a post that clearly had racial overtone's, that only inflamed the issue.

While the BCGP did put up a follow up post that apologized for tweeting without thinking, there was one sentence in it that still leaves me wondering if they still don't get it. “Again, we don't imply wholehearted agreement with everything we retweet.” If you don't agree with something you are re-tweeting than why do it? I can only hope that the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia takes a hard look at what they re-tweet to make sure that as an bicycling advocacy organization it represents what they are working towards. But some how I doubt it.

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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When is a bike lane not a bike lane?

When its in Philadelphia.

In the last few years the city of Philadelphia has created and expanded a network of bicycle lanes that allow cyclists to travel throughout Philadelphia. A great benefit to many of the residents of the city who need an alternative to the cost of owning a car and may want to save money and time by not having to depend solely on SEPTA.

However there remains one glaring problem, lack of enforcement when someone uses them as a parking space. Other cities that have put in the effort to create this type of infrastructure have also made sure that bicycle lanes are treated as a lane of traffic, so if you park in one you can get ticketed. Unfortunately in Philadelphia that is not the case and with no protection bicycle lanes have become parking spots and loading zones.

I can be sympathetic to companies like UPS who are only making temporary stops. While ridding along the Spruce and Pine St. bicycle lanes it's hard to have any sympathy for someone who parked there car a bicycle lane and walked away from it. One of the worst examples of this occurred in December 2010 when a two way, contra flow lane was opened at 30^th St. between Walnut and Market. Which was immediately filled with a collection of vehicles using it for parking; including police cars, delivery vehicles, contractors, and several lunch trucks. Of course a picture is worth a thousand words and this link to a Flicker account will show just how egregious this is.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/philly_bike_coalition/sets/72157625616893838/with/5268749282/

It's time for the city of Philadelphia to close this loop hole by updating its traffic laws so bike lanes have equal protection under the law. As long as this practice occurs cyclists will be forced out into the street, abruptly, placing them at risk of getting hit. While leaving drivers under the impression that we can't stay in our lane.