Another Bad Week For Pedestrians
Several major pedestrian crashes were reported in the past couple of days.
Friday Night - A pedestrian was killed by a vehicle avoiding another car in the Mayfair section of the city.
Friday Afternoon - At Tournament Drive and Horsham Road a van struck a construction worker, both the driver and pedestrian were killed
Thursday Morning - A woman was killed walking across the street to a bus stop on Limestone Road in Pike Creek Delaware
Dec. 25th - A woman was critically injured by a hit and run taxi in Camden.
This is the legacy blog of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. It is an archive of posts from 2003 to 2014. Making your ride better since 1972. https://www.bicyclecoalition.org
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Monday, December 26, 2005
Trip to Germany Update
Trip to Germany!
BCGP Executive Director Alex Doty is leading a unique tour of bicycle facilities in Germany, including riding from castle to castle with a bicycle GPS navigation system and parking in a bike station with room for 3,500 bikes.
We have created a Google Earth KMZ file of the Münster Bike Station and the Promenade which is a greenbelt of multi use paths surrounding the city. Also included are three famous castles in Münsterland, a bike ride to St. Goar on the Rhine River and the extensive Weser River Bike Path.
The files should open up in Google Earth if you have it on your computer. If you don't and you are using Windows XP you can download it here.
BCGP Executive Director Alex Doty is leading a unique tour of bicycle facilities in Germany, including riding from castle to castle with a bicycle GPS navigation system and parking in a bike station with room for 3,500 bikes.
We have created a Google Earth KMZ file of the Münster Bike Station and the Promenade which is a greenbelt of multi use paths surrounding the city. Also included are three famous castles in Münsterland, a bike ride to St. Goar on the Rhine River and the extensive Weser River Bike Path.
The files should open up in Google Earth if you have it on your computer. If you don't and you are using Windows XP you can download it here.
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Latest Carnage
Latest Carnage
Driver's on illegal substances meant that December has been a bad month for bicyclists, pedestrians and people lying in bed
Dec. 10 - SUV kills couple asleep in bed
Police said a driver veered off Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor Township and plowed through a wall. He was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, drunken driving, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a license
Dec. 14 - Cyclist killed on Route 70
See the details in the post below
December 23 Pedestrian killed
From ABC6 - A hit and run crash on 19th Street at Hunting Park Avenue in the city's Tioga-Nicetown section Friday night. Police say a 74-year-old man was struck as he walked along the road. He died of his injuries at Temple Hospital.
Witness descriptions of the vehicle helped police catch the alleged driver in North Philadelphia. A 42-year-old man is behind bars, awaiting arraignment on charges of vehicular homicide.
Driver's on illegal substances meant that December has been a bad month for bicyclists, pedestrians and people lying in bed
Dec. 10 - SUV kills couple asleep in bed
Police said a driver veered off Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor Township and plowed through a wall. He was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, drunken driving, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a license
Dec. 14 - Cyclist killed on Route 70
See the details in the post below
December 23 Pedestrian killed
From ABC6 - A hit and run crash on 19th Street at Hunting Park Avenue in the city's Tioga-Nicetown section Friday night. Police say a 74-year-old man was struck as he walked along the road. He died of his injuries at Temple Hospital.
Witness descriptions of the vehicle helped police catch the alleged driver in North Philadelphia. A 42-year-old man is behind bars, awaiting arraignment on charges of vehicular homicide.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Cyclist Killed on Route 70
Cyclist Killed on Route 70
From the Camden Courier Post:
Nehru P. Turner, 37, of the 3000 block of St. Martin's Road, is accused of striking Russell C. McCurnin, 48, of the 100 block of Faith Court at the intersection of Green Brook Drive and Route 70 in Evesham at 11:10 a.m. Sunday (December 11), police said.
Police said McCurnin was riding his bicycle on the shoulder of the roadway at the time of the accident.
Turner is charged with causing death while operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, failure to maintain a lane, operating a vehicle on a shoulder, driving while intoxicated and driving with a suspended license, police said
Complete Article
One charge that is missing "Vehicular Homicide".
As usual we can count on the rest of the Philadelphia media to routinely ignore bicycle and pedestrian deaths even though they rival homicides in count. The news mantra of "if it bleeds it leads" apparently doesn't apply to the lowly cyclist.
From the Camden Courier Post:
Nehru P. Turner, 37, of the 3000 block of St. Martin's Road, is accused of striking Russell C. McCurnin, 48, of the 100 block of Faith Court at the intersection of Green Brook Drive and Route 70 in Evesham at 11:10 a.m. Sunday (December 11), police said.
Police said McCurnin was riding his bicycle on the shoulder of the roadway at the time of the accident.
Turner is charged with causing death while operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, failure to maintain a lane, operating a vehicle on a shoulder, driving while intoxicated and driving with a suspended license, police said
Complete Article
One charge that is missing "Vehicular Homicide".
As usual we can count on the rest of the Philadelphia media to routinely ignore bicycle and pedestrian deaths even though they rival homicides in count. The news mantra of "if it bleeds it leads" apparently doesn't apply to the lowly cyclist.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
High Point to Cape May Bicycle Route
High Point to Cape May Bicycle Route
NJ DOT will be opening up the High Point to Cape May Bike Route by making the map and cue sheet available next month. The map will include accommodations, food, bike shops and transit access among other services. Long term plans for the 240 mile route include signing the route as well as engineering improvements such as shoulder widening and drainage grates.
North Section High Point Monument to Millstone
Central Section Millstone to Mays Landing
Google Earth version
If you have a copy of Google Earth (earth.google.com) you can click on the High_Point-Mays_Landing.kml and the route should open up in Google Earth.
Profile
A map for the southern section to Cape May should be available in the next few days.
NJ DOT will be opening up the High Point to Cape May Bike Route by making the map and cue sheet available next month. The map will include accommodations, food, bike shops and transit access among other services. Long term plans for the 240 mile route include signing the route as well as engineering improvements such as shoulder widening and drainage grates.
North Section High Point Monument to Millstone
Central Section Millstone to Mays Landing
Google Earth version
If you have a copy of Google Earth (earth.google.com) you can click on the High_Point-Mays_Landing.kml and the route should open up in Google Earth.
Profile
A map for the southern section to Cape May should be available in the next few days.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Ben Franklin Bridge to Extend Closing
Ben Franklin Bridge to Extend Closing
Ben Franklin Bridge Walkway Notice
Until further notice, the walkway on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge will remain closed for security upgrades and other construction activities. The walkway had been closed since early December due to snow and icing conditions. Once work is completed and if weather permits, the north walkway will reopen.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that the walkways closure may cause.
Not sure why they cannot work on one side and open the other, ,which has been the practice for the past few years. There has also been some reports of people being trapped on the bridge because the guards closed the gates at 5:40 PM instead of 6. (DRPA has informed us that they have addressed that problem)
Welcome to Philadelphia!
Ben Franklin Bridge Walkway Notice
Until further notice, the walkway on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge will remain closed for security upgrades and other construction activities. The walkway had been closed since early December due to snow and icing conditions. Once work is completed and if weather permits, the north walkway will reopen.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that the walkways closure may cause.
Not sure why they cannot work on one side and open the other, ,which has been the practice for the past few years. There has also been some reports of people being trapped on the bridge because the guards closed the gates at 5:40 PM instead of 6. (DRPA has informed us that they have addressed that problem)
Saturday, December 10, 2005
2004 Area Bicycle Fatalities
2004 Area Bicycle Fatalities
Here is a roundup of bicycle fatalities that occured during 2004
Philadelphia
Here is a roundup of bicycle fatalities that occured during 2004
Philadelphia
| Location | Date | Time | Age | Helmet | Hit and Run |
| Philadelphia | |||||
| 18th and Susquehanna | 1-Jun | 10:07 PM | 18 | No | Yes |
| Master St nr 7th | 13-Jul | 2:20 PM | 31 | No | No |
| Hawthorne and Princeton | 22-Aug | 9:13 PM | 14 | UnK | No |
| Hawthorne and Princeton | 22-Aug | 9:13 PM | 13 | UnK | No |
| Route 291 | 16-Aug | 9:30 PM | 48 | No | No |
| Bucks | |||||
| SR 2097 Wrightstown | 12-May | 9:02 PM | 42 | No | No |
| Delaware | |||||
| SR 2016 Springfield | 18-Aug | 6:30 AM | 84 | No | No |
| Montgomery | |||||
| Cannon nr. 3rd, Lansdale | 28-Apr | 10:31 PM | 15 | No | No |
| SR-2013 Lwr. Moreland | 27-Dec | 10:04 PM | 33 | No | No |
| Burlington | |||||
| 528 Bordentown Crosswicks | 10-Sep | 2:26 PM | 82 | No | No |
| Route 38 at 541 Mt. Holly | 16-May | 11:16 PM | 41 | No | No |
| University and Harvard Pemberton Lake | 3-Jul | 11:45 AM | 84 | No | No |
| Camden | |||||
| Beideman and Hayes Camden | 11-Mar | 7:49 PM | 54 | No | No |
Friday, December 09, 2005
Mapquest For Bikes
The Bicycle Coalition is pursuing the development of an online Bicycle Trip Planner. Only a few months ago this would have been a major undertaking but thanks to open source programming, the possibility of funding and a consortium of like minded groups across the country we expect to have a trip planner up and running sometime in 2006.
Like Mapquest the Bike Trip Planner will deliver turn by turn directions and a map, however because bicycles are much more sensitive to traffic, terrain and distance we have to gather data such as road suitability and hills on top of the road network.
In addition our trip planner will be sensitive to user input making the software (smarter) roads that are popular and receive good reviews will be weighted higher than roads that don't.
Funding from the School District of Philadelphia will directed towards enhanceing the program for to enable school students to reach specific destinations in the city in the city and will be available in multiple languages. Later enhancements might include integration with SEPTA's and NJ Transit Trip Planners.
Here are a couple of sample trip planners already online
London Bicycle Journey Planner
Portland Bycycle.org
LA Bikemetro.com
Like Mapquest the Bike Trip Planner will deliver turn by turn directions and a map, however because bicycles are much more sensitive to traffic, terrain and distance we have to gather data such as road suitability and hills on top of the road network.
In addition our trip planner will be sensitive to user input making the software (smarter) roads that are popular and receive good reviews will be weighted higher than roads that don't.
Funding from the School District of Philadelphia will directed towards enhanceing the program for to enable school students to reach specific destinations in the city in the city and will be available in multiple languages. Later enhancements might include integration with SEPTA's and NJ Transit Trip Planners.
Here are a couple of sample trip planners already online
London Bicycle Journey Planner
Portland Bycycle.org
LA Bikemetro.com
Mega Map Wars Escalate
Mega Map Wars Escalate
This week saw two important benchmarks in the in the Google, Microsoft, Yahoo battle for one upmanship.
1 A new Transit Trip Planner for Portland Oregon from Google. Google plans to expand the technology to any transit system willing to work with them. The fact that Google has moved beyond auto routes is good news for cyclists as a bicycle-multimodal trip router cannot be far behind (see the next post).
2 Microsoft has lauched Windows Live Local with Bird's Eye View technology for select cities including Philadelphia try out these searches
a - Dumpster at the Playboy Mansion
b - Valley Green Inn
c - Schuylkill River Park at the Whale Mural
d- Seattle Space Needle
This week saw two important benchmarks in the in the Google, Microsoft, Yahoo battle for one upmanship.
1 A new Transit Trip Planner for Portland Oregon from Google. Google plans to expand the technology to any transit system willing to work with them. The fact that Google has moved beyond auto routes is good news for cyclists as a bicycle-multimodal trip router cannot be far behind (see the next post).
2 Microsoft has lauched Windows Live Local with Bird's Eye View technology for select cities including Philadelphia try out these searches
a - Dumpster at the Playboy Mansion
b - Valley Green Inn
c - Schuylkill River Park at the Whale Mural
d- Seattle Space Needle
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Ben Franklin Bridge Walkway Closed?
Ben Franklin Bridge Walkway Closed?
No notice has put up on the website, which states that the north walkway is open.
DRPA's policy is to close the walkway the minute it begins to accumulate and reopen only after the sidewalks are dry. Their position is that there is nowhere to push the snow except on top of the PATCO tracks.
Assume the walkway is closed. This blog will be monitoring the status of the walkway this winter to see if DRPA. As of 4PM the roads and sidewalks are mostly clear, but expect the bridge walkway to be closed tomorrow.
No notice has put up on the website, which states that the north walkway is open.
DRPA's policy is to close the walkway the minute it begins to accumulate and reopen only after the sidewalks are dry. Their position is that there is nowhere to push the snow except on top of the PATCO tracks.
Assume the walkway is closed. This blog will be monitoring the status of the walkway this winter to see if DRPA. As of 4PM the roads and sidewalks are mostly clear, but expect the bridge walkway to be closed tomorrow.
Wanted: Clear Sidewalks!
Wanted: Clear Sidewalks!
Photo: RBA GroupTis the season ... to ignore the needs of children, the elderly and people with disabilities. Today's snowfall reminded me about this annual plight. Complete Streets includes maintenance including snow removal for bike lanes, trails and sidewalks.
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