Turn Right at Champs-Élysées and Go Straight

Members of the Priority Health Cycling Team got a surprise co-rider tagging along in Chester County earlier this month. That's Lance Armstrong looking over the map at Gay and Darlington Streets in West Chester. Armstrong was allegedly lost looking for a friend's house when he came across the team.

Philadelphia Bicycle Rentals

Human Zoom - Manayunk
4159 Main St.
Philadelphia, PA 19127
215-487-7433
http://humanzoom.com/page.cfm?PageID=117

Trophy Bikes -
3131 Walnut Street
215.222.2020
http://trophybikes.com/rentals.php

Breakaway Bikes
1923 Chestnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19130
215-568-6002

Philadelphia Bike Tours
215-514-3124 / 215-334-0790 / 866-667-3395
Will deliver bikes to downtown hotels
http://www.philadelphiabiketour.com/wst_page5.html

Lloyd Hall Bike Shack - 1 Boathouse Row
(215) 685-3936
Open Weekends only

Philadelphia Cycling Committee June 2007 Minutes

Updates on Priority Issues:

Adopt a Rack. John Boyle—Philadelphia got 1400 racks. City went to business improvement districts. Locations have been identified. Problems with paving contract. Brought issue up to Bike Task Force. Streets Department separated adopt-a-rack from paving contract and developing a bike rack contract. Installation could start as early as the fall of 2007.

Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. John Boyle - Philadelphia got a $180K TCDI grant from DVRPC to develop a bicycle-pedestrian plan Northwest, Lower North and Southwest Philadelphia and Center City. Policy recommendations will be applied citywide while infrastructure recommendations will applied to the above neighborhoods. Larry Shaeffer noted that the project(s) scored very high in the competitive process.

Cab Driver Education —no progress as of yet. Idea was to get cards made to describe road rules for new driver orientations. No clear place to call and complain at PPA. Rebecca will try to set up a meeting. Incident report.

Bike Share Program. Jeff Hartman, Larry Shaeffer, Russell Meddin, Clayton Lane.

Russell described Lyon and Paris’ programs. Two videos out. Australian video most informative. Bike sharing program is financed by advertising. First half hour is free; 50 centimes for next half hour. 1 Euro/hour after that. A computer is onboard tracks maintenance. 3 speed bike. Very heavy. Doesn’t share parts with other bike models.

Fairly expensive to maintain. Bikes come in the shop for a lot of work, but not many are stolen. Biggest problem is with tires. Docking stations lock the bike. Most trips are less than 20 minutes. Company can keep track of them. 3 trucks circulate to move bikes. City of Chicago and Seattle are putting out Raps. Paris wants to put a pod every ½ kilometer. Philadelphia would be perfect for this; flat; bike culture; sharing culture; parking hellish. Reduced car traffic by 4%. Enough travel on these bikes to circle the globe once a day.

Big discussion on merits, possibilities.

Next steps: worth approaching SEPTA. Business model is the toughest thing to sort out. Could work with an advertising executive. Jeff Hartman and Clayton Lane agreed to work on a committee.

Street furniture RFP has been recently released by City of Philadelphia.

Other Programs

• German model rents bikes; price is much higher.
• Tulsa OK Tulsa Townies 3 stations; 75 bikes. Cost $300K. Program funded by a grant from Warren Medical Research Foundation

Pavement Issues. Been raising these issues with the Bike Task Force. Some improvement seen. Utilities should be improving the streets up to spec. Send pictures to yahoo Philadelphia list serve. Dennis will track them. Mybikelane.com John will make sure everyone attending is on the yahoo listserv.

South Street Bridge. Gihon Jordon. Used to be President of the Bike Coalition. Board Member. Hopeless transportation wonk. Was Center City’s traffic engineer for 15 years. Knows the xx and too of City’s plans. Sit of National Transportation Board’s pedestrian/bike committees. Not a well designed bridge. Offering technical assistance and can poke holes in the plans. But can’t organize a campaign. We need a position paper.

What’s wrong with the bridge:

• Turning Radius on to the Schuylkill Expressway Ramps is too large, encouraging truck traffic and degrading pedestrian level of service.
• Through bike lane should be on the left of a dedicated right turn lane
• No reason bridge should accommodate trucks

Status of the bridge?

Contract for detour has been let.

Then they will let the construction project.

Reality-bridge project will probably not start until spring.

Detour is also a problem. Pedestrian detour 22 feet narrows to 8 feet. At 33^rd and Walnut Street. Dangerous spot. Gihon has suggestions.

Ad-Hoc Committee

Jim Campbell reported that there’s a large ad-hoc committee of CCRA, SOSNA, neighborhood groups focused specifically on the South St. Bridge. Recently made a presentation to CCRA board. Made a presentation to South West Business Association. Biggest problem is from Penn. Asked the Bike Coalition to join the ad-hoc committee. Conceivably, a meeting may be held next week. John Boyle distributed the Bike Coalition’s position statement. 1000 bicycles and 4000 pedestrians a day use the South Street Bridge when Penn is in session.

The SS Bridge ad-hoc Committee has determined that they have no confidence in the bridge design.

PennDOT/Streets Dept. willing to look at different color pavement, willing to test the closing the ramps, willing to look at other traffic calming techniques.

Jim said that the committee has met with Anna Verna and Frank Rizzo.

City Council main concern is being able to hold on to PENNDOT funding to reconstruct the bridge.

Jim says that he can’t confirm that Penn has signed off on the Bridge. Sarah suggested meeting with Mark Kocent. Principal Planner, Office of the University Architect

Send an email to jcampbell@campbellthomas.com if you want to be involved in the SS Bridge ad hoc bridge committee.

Dennis Winters will be the Bike Coalition liaison to the ad-hoc committee.

There are 205 cyclists on the Philadelphia listserv. Committee needs a bigger place to meet. Kyle to check availability at his workplace, Dennis to inquire about Wolf Block 1650 Arch Street, 22nd Floor

Cyclegram is coming out in July. June 22 is the deadline. Dennis welcomes article submissions. Darren Lincoln recounted that he got the VA Hospital to put in a new bike parking facility.

Next Meeting is Tuesday July 17^th 6:30 PM (6pm for pizza)

The Meeting was adjourned at 8:24 PM

New Jersey Bicyclist Killed

From the Gloucester County Times:

Bicyclist killed in accident Friday, June 29, 2007 MONROE TWP. A bicyclist was killed Thursday when he was struck by a pickup truck while attempting to cross the Black Horse Pike, police said. Brandon S. Scholar, 21, died in Kennedy Memorial Hospital, Washington Township about an hour after the 4:30 a.m. crash. Advertisement

Road and John J. Touhill, 49, of Williamstown was driving a 2005 Dodge Dakota pickup truck north on the Black Horse Pike when the collision occurred, police said. Touhill attempted to stop, police said. Scholar was thrown from the bike after impact. Two witnesses indicated Touhill had the right of way, police said. Ptl. Mark Burton is investigating. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call (856) 728-9800, ext. 546.

http://www.nj.com/news/gloucester/local/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1183097572151340.xml&coll=8

Bike Town Gives Away 50 Trek Limes

For the fourth year in a row Philadelphia was the local site of the Bike Town Giveaway. It was smartly held in Schuylkill River Park this year and 50 Trek Lime's were given away.

The Lime uses Shimano's Coasting components. Coasting bikes employ automatic shifting and coaster brakes. If you wonder who would want such a product, think of the masses who rent bikes on the Jersey Shore boardwalks on weekend mornings.

Cobbs Creek Bikeway Video

Here is a well done video tour of the Cobbs Creeks Bikeway



One interesting aspect of the video is that a motorcyclist passes on this highly underused trail. Is this a chicken and the egg problem here? Does the presence of ATV's discourage trail use or would the ranks of motorized users decline if there were a sufficient number of walkers and bicyclists.

BikePhilly Blog

We just started a BikePhilly blog. One of the first posts has a slideshow of the route. Check it out -- and then pre-register before June 30th for the early bird discount!

Draft Philadelphia Cycling Committee Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes
Philadelphia Cycling Committee (Draft)

May 22, 2007

Dennis Winters – Acting Chair

Present

Dennis Winters – Center City West

John Boyle – NJ BCGP Staff - Acting Secretary

Rebecca P – Italian Market Area

Stacy Plattenberger – Queen Village

Jeff Hartman – Queen Village

Jeff Jenne- Germantown

Susan Dannenberg – Mt. Airy

Dennis Winters called the meeting to order at 6:35 PM

Dennis announced that the committee will meet on the 3^rd Tuesday of each month

He stated that he wanted this group to be pro active and issue driven and that the Bicycle Coalition is seeking nominees for a permanent chair and secretary.

John then spoke briefly about previous committees and attempts to form a Philadelphia Committee. The BCGP hopes that this committee will eventually be the go to group to solve on the ground problems in the city.

The minutes once approved via email will be posted on the BCGP Philly email list and the Philadelphia Bicycle News Blog.

Brainstorming Session – Underlined issues were identified by the committee as priorities, priority issues have been assigned to members to manage and follow up.

1 Education of Cab Drivers – Print a bicycle safety card provided to the cab companies. governed Public Utility Commission

2 Fixing the breaks in the pavement and poor pavement conditions this could include utility cuts dirty bike lanes potholes and other street defects.

3 Sharrows – On appropriate streets too narrow for bike lanes

4 Adopt A Rack – Project has been delayed until 2008. Action needed?

5 Ben Franklin Bridge – There is already a group working on the bridge issue

6 South Street Bridge – Bicycle Coalition successfully included bike lanes and signal improvements for bikes. Community and bike detour issues remain.

7 Bicycle encouragement programs at large institutions- E.g. Jefferson University Hospital does not encouraging bicycle commuting (bikes are a hassle and racks are not being provided.

8 Bicycle Commuter Act – Federal Action required

9 Bike friendly recreational areas close to the city - Access

10 Bikes on Trains – Improve the bike rules and access (e.g. stair ramps, elevator signage)

11 Bikes in Buildings – Pass a city ordinance requiring bike accommodations in buildings

12 Bikes on the sidewalk

13 Motorist/Cyclist Education

14 Bicycle Blvd/Exclusive ROW

15 Urban Rails to Trails

16 Climate Change Action Plan – Add bicycling to the action plan

17 Environmental Group citywide email alert network

18 Bike Share Program

Getting more people to bike

Bicycle encouragement programs at large institutions-. Jefferson University Hospital does not encouraging bicycle commuting (bikes are a hassle and racks are not being provided. However HUP has just installed a large bank of bike racks at the hospital.

Policy of public institutions to bike parking policy

Planning and zoning bike provisions – Reform of planning and zoning laws offer an opportunity to accommodate bicycles.

Priority issues

Adopt A Rack – John will get more details on why the project has been delayed and what can be done to move the installation of the racks back to 2007. Possible campaign.

Education of Cab Drivers – Rebecca will follow-up with research of other existing programs and if they can be applied to Philadelphia. Susan will assist.

Bike Share Program – Jeff Hartman and Jeff Jenne will open discussion with Philly Car Share to explore interest and feasibility of a non-profit based bike sharing program.

Pavement Issues – Dennis will take the lead on this issue

Next Meeting is Tuesday June 19^th 6:30 at the Bicycle Coalition offices.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:04 PM

Kill the Quick Release Bill

New Jersey Assembly Bill No. 2686 would make it illegal to sell any bicycle including ADULT bicycles with current quick releases;
- It is wrongly promoted as being directed only to children's bicycles;
- This will have an immediate, significant, adverse impact on:
a. New Jersey Bicycle consumers
b. New Jersey Bicycle dealers

None of the bicycles currently on the market could meet the standard in Assembly Bill 2686
- This would IMMEDIATELY shut down the bicycle retail business in New Jersey
- The Bill would require a quick release retention system on adult bikes that:
a. Works AUTOMATICALLY
b. ALWAYS retains the wheel

There is no commercially available system that meets this impossible standard.
-The Quick Release has been in use for over 50 years
-On today's commercial bicycles, bikes with Quick Releases also come with redundant retention.
-A properly used Quick Release is SAFER than a bicycle with a bolted axle.

Assembly Bill 2686 is ill advised because:
a. It is not directed only at Children's bikes;
b. It will shut down the New Jersey Bicycle business;
c. It will be pre-empted by Federal Law that already regulates bicycles quick releases. Action Plan:

NJ Cyclists should contact your State Senator and ask them not to support the Quick Release Bill ...find your representative(s)

A bad week for Child Pedestrians

The daily carnage of pedestrians maimed or killed by automobiles continues but this week was especially gut wrenching because of 3 small children were killed.

In Allentown a 4 Year Old boy was killed when two Police Cruisers crashed and veered on the sidewalk. One of the officers has an extensive record of moving violations including drunk driving and speeding. No charges have been filed.

In Camden Two-year-old Jasir Coar was killed by a minivan when it swerved out of control onto the sidewalk was at 7th and Chestnut Streets. No charges have been filed.

In Bear DE two children and their mother were struck on Friday while crossing Route 40 at Porter Road. On Sunday night Channel 6 reported that the younger child, age 6 months old had died. No charges have been filed.

In Camden on Friday a 3 year old was struck and injured by a hit and run driver who stopped the car and fled on foot.