Congress Is Closing In On A Transportation Bill - Tell Them To Preserve Funding For Walking and Biking

At long last, it may finally be crunch time.

We have been here before, asking you to contact your Senators and House Representative to preserve bicycling and walking in a transportation bill. You have responded every time and we are still in the game thanks to your diligence. Currently biking and walking funds are contained in the Senate bill but not in the House version.

Bike/ped trails aren't expensive in the scheme of things, and they
are unmatched in return on investment

With the pressure mounting to get a transportation bill (or any bill for that matter) passed the House and Senate are now negotiating terms of the final bill for passage. So we need your voice, here in the last mile, to ensure that walking and biking funds are not struck from the bill.

The key is the Cardin-Cochran agreement. This bipartisan compromise reached two months ago ensures that local governments and school systems are able to access funds to make walking and biking safer and more accessible.

This is the agreement, forged through strenuous effort, which must be preserved. It has no effect on the overall funding size of the bill. A recent Princeton survey found that an overwhelming majority of Americans (83%) support increasing or maintaining federal funding for sidewalks, bike lanes, and bike paths. Only 13% of Americans support decreasing biking and walking funding.

Contact your Senators and Representative today and tell them to keep bicycling and walking in the Transportation Bill!

Next Week City Will Present Report On Controversial 10th Street Bike Lane

The City is recommending removing parts of the 10th Street
bike lane

Philadelphia's most talked-about bike lane is finally getting its own public meeting. The Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities is holding two open houses to discuss the results of the pilot 10th Street bike lane program.

Tuesday, May 22nd 2012
5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Chinese Christian Church and Center,
225 N 10th St.
Basement meeting hall will be used, entrance on Spring St.
Chinese interpretation services available.

Wednesday, May 23rd 2012
4:30 PM to 6:30 PM
SEPTA Food Court
1234 Market St.
Basement Level

What will happen to this street? The City is recommending the following:

• remove the bike between eastbound Vine Street and Filbert Street
• Replace with shared lane markings in left travel lane
• Update and refresh bicycle lane markings between Ride Ave and westbound Vine Street, and south of Market Street to Lombard Street 

We encourage everyone to attend these meetings to hear the City's presentation of its data and share your comments and feedback.

Bike To Work With Mayor Nutter This Friday

Nutter was undaunted by rain in 2008. Friday's forecast
is sunny and warm.

Whatcha doing this Friday morning? Want to grab coffee and ride alongside Mayor Nutter down the Parkway?

Yeah you do.

This Friday is Bike to Work Day! And for the 5th consecutive year, Mayor Michael Nutter is joining us for a bike ride to work.

If you read our blog, there's a good chance you already bike to work. So take this opportunity to convince a co-worker to give it a try! It's a short ride, the forecast is looking perfect, and your co-worker will be able to say that the first time they biked to work, they had a police escort! Makes for a good story.

National Bike to Work Day
Date: Friday, May 18th
Gathering time: 7:30 - 8:30 AM (ride leaves at 8:30 AM)
Gathering point: Lloyd Hall
Coffee: free and available

We'll be leaving Lloyd Hall at 8:30 sharp and biking down the Parkway to Love Park. There will be a short press conference at the Park, with Mayor Nutter and our own Alex Doty offering remarks.

And don't forget to log your ride in the I Bike PHL Challenge. It's a 1.7 mile ride, so that's 22 points (20 for riding on Friday)!

Philadelphia Ride of Silence Happening This Wednesday

The Ride of Silence is an international ride honoring cyclists killed or injured in crashes with motor vehicles. The ride also serves to raise public awareness of cyclists' right to share the road. Six bicyclists have been killed in the Delaware Valley in the past 11 months.

Around 250 rides will be held in the US this year. Philadelphia's Ride of Silence (the 8th in a row, 10th ever) is happening this Wednesday. Details below:

Date: Wednesday, May 16th
Time: 6:45 pm - 8:30 pm (approx)
Meeting location: steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
rain or shine

The 8-mile ride occurs in silence, at no more than 11 mph. It will be a police-escorted ride past City Hall and Independence Hall, over the Walnut Street Bridge, and back to the PMA via the Market Street Bridge.

No registration necessary. Helmets are required, and bike lights are encouraged. Riders are also encouraged to bring a cash donation to help the organizers offset police costs. Questions can be directed to info@bicyclecoalition.org.

Philadelphia's First-Ever Bike to School Day

Last month Safe Routes Philly assisted Penrose Elementary in Southwest Philadelphia with holding the first-ever Bike to School Day at a Philadelphia public school. The event was an extraordinary success.

Students arriving at school on two wheels

The day came about through the efforts of Penrose nurse and wellness champion Bob Carozza, plus two Americorps volunteers. Mr. Carozza learned about the Bike to School Day concept through Safe Routes Philly community representative Steve Taylor. Steve recommended the day as a way to introduce students and parents to the value and fun of bicycling and active transportation.

Mr. Carozza passed out fliers to Penrose teachers to send home with students advertising the April 18th event. Steve and Mr. Carozza were expecting a handful of students - instead, over 30 students came riding onto school grounds that Wednesday morning, many accompanied by parents on bikes or on foot. Once at school, the participating students were served healthy snacks while the bikes were locked up to the school's six bike racks.

An Important Announcement Concerning Bike Philly

It's okay to be a
little sad, Oliver

Friends, we have some news to share. It's kind of a bummer, but bicyclists are a tough crowd so we think you can handle it.

We will not be doing Bike Philly this year.

It is a decision we have made after much deliberation, difficulty, and early-onset nostalgia (is there a topical cream for that?). There really is no Philly experience quite like biking through a car-free Center City with thousands of other bicyclists. It is one of our favorite days of the year.

Unfortunately, Bike Philly has not grown in the way we needed in order to offset its rising costs. Bike Philly took everyone and everything we had to put on every year, and we loved doing it. But as an event it has grown harder, not easier, to pull off. After intense deliberation, we have determined that we cannot sustain the event.

But take heart! This is not the end of family-friendly bicycling events in Philadelphia. Every major American city has a ciclovia (aka Summer Streets) event except us. More festival than ride, a ciclovia is a block party in motion, stretching over several miles. So we are redirecting the work we put into Bike Philly to bring a ciclovia to Philadelphia in 2013.

Why a ciclovia instead of Bike Philly? Closing the street is less disruptive because cross streets still work with participants following the lights at intersections. By making it free -- and not a fundraiser -- we build more civic support and the opportunity to find municipal, civic, and corporate partners who will take on more of the effort of putting on such a big event.

Thank you to the thousands and thousands of bicyclists who rode in Bike Philly over the past five years, and all those people who took the time to tell us how much they loved the event. We look forward to seeing you on a car-free street as part of a ciclovia in 2013.