Community Organization Focus Group Opportunity

Historic Bartram's Garden is looking for help in shaping their programming and activities.  They are seeking participants to take a survey and possibly a participate in a focus group.  The focus groups will be held at a Center City location at 6 PM on September 20 & 21.  Refreshments will be provided, and participants will be paid for their time. Take the survey and help shape part of the city's future.

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Bicyclist Struck By Distracted Driver in Worcester Twp.

From the Lansdale Reporter:

Bicyclist injured

A 50-year-old Collegeville man on a bicycle was injured in an accident Saturday morning near the intersection of Kriebel Mill Road and Fawn Road in Worcester Township.

According to state police, the biker was heading north on Kriebel Mill Road approaching a stop sign at Fawn Road as William Faulkner, 31, of Collegeville, was driving west on Fawn Road approaching Kriebel Mill in a 2000 Dodge Ram pickup truck.

Police said Faulkner stopped at the stop sign and made a left turn, but was on his cell phone at the time and dropped it while making the turn.

As he picked up the phone, police said, Faulkner looked up and found himself in the biker’s lane shortly before hitting the biker.

The biker suffered unknown injuries and was transported to Phoenixville Hospital for evaluation. Faulkner suffered no injuries and minor damage to his front fender and door, police said.

No word as to whether charges were being filed, but the rash of recent major crashes involving suspected impaired or distracted drivers makes a very strong case for Pennsylvania and New Jersey to adopt vulnerable road user laws similar to the one just passed in Delaware. Vulnerable road user laws place penalties on any driver convicted of careless or inattentive driving and hits a pedestrian, cyclist, motorcyclist, highway road worker etc.

View Bicyclists Crashes 2008-2010 NJ and SE PA in a larger map

Chester Valley Trail Ribbon Cutting on Sept 21st

Chester County Board of Commissioners will host a ribbon cutting of the Chester Valley Trail from 5:00 to 6:30 PM on Tuesday September 21st at the East Whiteland Township Building that will mark the official opening of Phase 1 of the Chester Valley Trail which extends from the Target at Worthington (Route 29 and Wyeth Drive) in Malvern to Ship Road near Livingston Lane in West Whiteland Township.

The East Whiteland Township Building is located at 209 E Conestoga Rd in Frazer, PA. Please RSVP by September 16th to rsvp@chesco.org

View Larger Map

NBW Needs Supporters to Help Win Zoning Variance

NBW kids at the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby

Neighborhood Bike Works is appealing a recent denial of certification of occupancy it received from the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I).  There are three ways supporters of NBW can help.

1. Friends, especially those who live in the vicinity of St. Mary's Church, can write a letter of support about the Church housing the NBW youth program and bicycle workshop in the basement of 3916 Locust walk and ask for a variance so that NBW can continue its operations there.  Folks who live in the 19104 zip code are especially encouraged to write a letter.  Send your letter to NBW.


2. Sign a petition asking for a variance and email the petition directly to NBW.

3. Attend the Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing where St. Mary's Church is appealing L&I's notice on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 9:30 am at 1515 Arch Street, 18th Floor, ZBA Hearing Room 18002. 

"Last Minute" Registration (Comes After Late Registration)!

Dear Bicycle Enthusiasts!

Due to the number of calls and emails we've received tonight and this morning, we realized we need to make something clear: Registration does not close tonight, it is just the end of a price period.

So Fear Not! Tonight is our "Late" Registration Deadline, marking the end of a price period. Starting tomorrow, registration prices for Bike Philly will rise. So register today and save!! Go to www.bikephilly.org to register now (or up until September 12th!)

Sorry for any confusion and feel free to call me (Joshua) at 215.242.9253 ext. 8# with any questions.

P.S. Check out Fox's recap of last year's Bike Philly!

What Comes After Late Registration?

Bike Philly Deadline Today!

Would you like to bike through the heart of Philadelphia surrounded by bicyclists instead of cars? Are you curious about what a bicycle traffic jam of thousands of bikes feels like? Find out by riding the certified car-free Bike Philly on September 12.

Late registration closes at midnight so take four minutes to register now!

Check out the three ride options that range from laid-back family-friendly routes on car-free streets to a new challenging 35-mile option on shared roads.

And best of all, your registration supports the work of the Bicycle Coalition to make your ride better across the Delaware Valley!

Philly Bike Share Demonstrations A Success!

 

 

 

Mayor Michael Nutter explains the concept of bike sharing to a new bride and groom getting their photo taken at LOVE Park.

Last week, Bike Share Philadelphia showcased a bike share station at three locations in Philadelphia (Penn Bookstore, LOVE Park and Penn's Landing) to show what bike sharing could look like in Philly.  Several Bicycle Ambassadors joined Russell Meddin of Bike Share Philadelphia and spoke to close to 1000 individuals who stopped by to check out the bikes.  The demonstration was co-sponsored by the Mayor's Office of Transportation, University of Pennsylvania and the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation.   The station and bicycles were supplied by BCycle, which is running Denver's bike share program. 

A recent independent study found that a bike share program in Philadelphia is feasible, but funding issues have stymied further implementation. Bike Share Philadelphia hopes that the demonstration project will help inspire the City "to announce it is time to start a program so it can start to finding the necessary funding to start it rolling."

Bike Philly: Packet Pickup Locations

Attention, Bike Philly 2010 Riders:

Our Pre-Ride Packet Pickup locations have been scheduled! A special thanks to REI, ZIPCAR, AND EMS for hosting.


View Bike Philly 2010 - Packet Pickup Locations in a larger map (or zoom out to find locations in greater Philly).


See the following dates, times and locations to determine which pickup destination is best for you:

September 7 - 5:00pm-9:00pm
REI Conshohocken
200 W. Ridge Pike, Suite 115, Conshohocken, PA 19428

REI Marlton
501 Route 73 South, Marlton, NJ 08053

September 8 - 5:00pm-8:30pm
EMS Haverford
525 W. Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA 19041

EMS University City
3401 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104

September 9 - 9:00am-5:00pm
BCGP office: 1500 Walnut St. - Suite 1107

September 10 - 9:00am-7:00pm
ZipCar
218 S. 12th St, Philadelphia 19107

September 11 - 10:00am-2:00pm
Safe Routes Philly Family Phest
Eakins Oval
2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103

You can also find the locations here:

http://www.bicyclecoalition.org/content/pre-ride-packet-pick

Experience bike sharing this week!

Thursday, August 26th in front of the Penn Bookstore in University City at 36th & Walnut Sts, 10am to 6pm

Friday August 27th at Love Park in Center City at 15th & JFK Blvd, 10am to 6pm

Saturday, August 28th at Penn's Landing on Walnut Plaza in Old City - off Columbus Blvd at Walnut St., 10am to 6pm

You are encouraged to come and try out these bikes and this bike share station. They are from the same bike-sharing system currently being used in the Denver, Colorado B-cycle program and in this summer's Chicago, Illinois pilot program.

Experience the future of public transportation on two wheels with a system which can provide door-to-door mobility. If it can be done in Minneapolis, Washington, DC, Denver, Chicago, and will soon be on the streets of Miami Beach, San Antonio, Des Moines and Honolulu, then there is no reason why Philadelphia can't move from only a demonstration of bike sharing to the real thing.

Bike Share Philadelphia sponsors these events in cooperation with

the Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities, the University of Pennsylvania and the

Delaware River Waterfront Corporation.

Assistance at the event will be provided by the Ambassadors of the Bicycle Coalition.

Come join us for a ride!

See Map for Locations:

View Bike Share B-cycle Demonstration August Philadelphia in a larger map

Take SEPTA to Bike Philly!!

Why drive when you can ride? To support Bike Philly, SEPTA is adding a car just for bikes on the following inbound Regional Rail trains:

Train #3409 departing West Trenton at 5:58am

Train #703 departing Chestnut Hill East at 6:11am

Train #522 departing Malvern (Paoli Line) at 6:30am

Volunteers will be on board to help you board. We suggest you purchase your weekend round-trip ticket or Independence Pass (for all day access to all of SEPTA) ahead of time, but you can also purchase them onboard.

Don’t forget, bicycles are also allowed on the Market Frankford Line, the Broad Street Line, the Norristown High Speed Line and SEPTA buses are equipped with bike racks to hold two bicycles.

Click here for more information on how to take your bike on SEPTA.

Click here to help us grow Bike Philly on facebook.

* Please note. Due to varying return times for cyclists, return trains will not have the extra bike car and may be subject to the usual two bike per car restrictions. Please respect the instructions of the conductor of your train.

Wissahickon Gateway Ready for Engineering Study

As reported earlier this year, the most critical gap in Philadelphia's Schuylkill River Trail, the Wissahickon Gateway, finally received some funding in early 2010 to begin the process of figuring out how to improve this section.   Currently, trail users are forced to weave in and out of motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic around an overcrowded and heavily used intersection of major roads, bus routes and highway onramps.  The trail  needs a new bike/ped bridge over the Wissahickon Creek and an alignment that winds behind and in between several parcels between Kelley Drive and where Main Street.  PA's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources provided a $50,000 grant to the City of Philadelphia to conduct an engineering study early in 2010, which the City has matched with its own funds.  Last Friday, the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Department posted a "Request for Proposals" to study this section of the trail.  Prospective consulting firms are directed to the City's econtract page and to click on "new contract opportunities."  There is a mandatory pre-bid meeting on August 30th and the deadline for submitting proposals is September 15th.

Rendering of potential new riverfront trail from 

Schuylkill Project