Who Is That?

Hosted on Flickr By Bikeadventures

Reverend Al Sharpton at New York's Critical Mass Ride on Friday. This article here explains why he was participating in the ride.

The BCGP does not endorse Critical Mass, nor do we endorse Reverend Sharpton's legal choice to go helmet-less, we do however approve of the Reverend riding a Fuji Bicycle.

Bike Commuting Report on the Today Show

We're No 1! ... For Bike Theft

Woo Hoo!.

Woah, wait a minute another dubious Philadelphia award. Killadelphia, worst place to raise a family, ugliest people in the US.

Here is the list in the Kryptonite Unbreakable Bonds Blog

Kryptonite’s Top 10 Worst Cities for Bike Theft (Bicycle Friendly Community Award):
1. Philadelphia, PA
2. Chicago, IL (Silver)
3. New York City, NY (Bronze)
4. San Francisco, CA (Gold)
5. Tucson, AZ (tie) (Gold) Portland, OR (tie) (Platinum)
7. Denver, CO (Bronze)
8. New Haven, CT
9. Cambridge, MA
10. Austin, TX (Silver)

Well at least we're in good company here.

Kryptonite offers some advice on how to safely lock your bicycle.

Philadelphia Surviving Broad St Apocalypse

News reports leading up to the Broad St closing for Convention Center demolition painted a grim 9 days of gridlock in Philadelphia. "Drivers beware!" warned Channel 6 on their website.















While motorists who are unaware of the detour are losing some time in their vehicles on North Broad St the North Side of City Hall is blissfully quiet.

An interesting feature of the closure is a rare (for Philadelphia) "high load limit" enclosed walkway shelters adjacent to the demolition site. These shelters have been championed by Councilman Kenney who noted in a recent presentation that New York City requires that the load limit for walkway shelters in NYC exceed 300lbs. In the past the Streets Department probably would have simply closed off Broad St to pedestrians.
















And as of Wednesday Morning neither the walkway shelter nor the city has collapsed.

Something Every Cyclist Should Do - Comment On The TIP

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission is taking public comment on the Fiscal Year 2009 Transportation Improvement Programfor PA and NJ. This is a very important document as it is the priority list of transportation projects for the region. The rule of thumb: If it is not in the TIP then it doesn't get built.

To review and comment on the Transportation Improvement Program for PA and NJ click here or go to www.dvrpc.org. NJ and PA's documents are overwhelmingly large but you can simply search for projects in your own county.

For those of you in NJ, we urge you to look at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign's Analysis of the NJ Capital Program (the TIP is part of the Capital Program) you may simply want to cut and paste the bullet points and make them part of you comments, especially bullet point number 4 which specifically addresses bicycle funding

For Pennsylvania consider mentioning the use of the Bike Ped Checklist and urge PENNDOT to abolish the Bikeway Occupancy Permit which is blocking the development of bike lanes in the suburbs.

At a minimum I encourage you to make a statement about the underfunding of bike and ped projects, feel free to use or abuse this sample: Given the concerns ranging from energy independence, global warming and the benefits of physical activity, bicycling and walking should be entitled to a larger piece of the transportation funding pie. Funding levels should be set at a minimum to match the existing non-motorized mode share and the percentage of bicycle and pedestrian traffic deaths.

Send your comments via email no later than June 2, 2009 - tip-plan-comments@dvrpc.org

New City Budget Promises More Money For Parks and Smoother Streets

City Council approved Mayor Nutter's $4 billion budget and a five-year plan on Thursday assuring 2.5 Million for Fairmount Park and $10 Million for much needed street repairs. Thank You City Council and Mayor Nutter.

PENNDOT's BOP Blocks Bike Lane Development

PENNDOT's Bikeway Occupancy Permit (BOP) requires a municipality to maintain any bikeway in PENNDOT's right of way. Most critically when it snows the municipality is required to plow the bike lane (even though PENNDOT plows the motor vehicle lanes).

In 2006 Bike lanes were scrapped along High St in West Chester/West Goshen between North and South campuses of West Chester University and more recently along Route 13 in Marcus Hook (Bicycle PA Route E) because municipalities would not agree to signing this document. Even if bike lanes are recommended in the checklist PENNDOT will not put them in unless a municipality obtains a BOP. PENNDOT needs to "Drop the BOP."

Obama Drops the B - Word

At the Portland waterfront rally last Sunday which drew 75,000 spectators including 8,000 bicyclists Obama catered to the Portland bike culture in his speech with the first documented mention of bicycling in the entire presidential race to date:

"If we are going to solve our energy problems we’ve got to think long term. It’s time for us to be serious about investing in alternative energy. It’s time for us to get serious about raising fuel efficiency standards on cars. It’s time that the entire country learn from what’s happening right here in Portland with mass transit and bicycle lanes and funding alternative means of transportation."

Alabama Students Protest High Gas Prices ... By Walking and Bicycling

Brooks High students in north Alabama protest gas prices
5/22/2008, 2:57 p.m. ET
By LAURA BRADDICK
The Associated Press

FLORENCE, Ala. (AP) — When it comes to rising gasoline prices, some choose to stand around and complain. One group of teens, however, is taking a stand by taking a walk.

Ten Brooks High School students met an hour before school started Monday morning at Center Star Baptist Church to make the 2 1/2-mile walk down U.S. 72 to school in protest high gas prices. The protest has continued all week.

Among the group are Elizabeth Simbeck, 17, and Megan McCutchen, 17, both juniors and organizers of the student protest. ...

... The group will continue its protest until the last day of school on May 29. Simbeck and McCutchen said they also plan to continue the protest next school year as seniors.

Full Article from the Associated Press and AL Live

Different motivation, same result. More students walking and biking to school. Local officials however have been less than encouraging:

• The school discourages activities that could put students in danger (walking?)
• Someone threw water balloons at the pedestrians.
• The City of Killen told students that they would need a parade permit that would take 45 days to acquire. (What that all about?). So the students started walking in small groups on their own.

The Joy of Bicycling

Some people biking east this evening may have caught a glimpse of a double rainbow, like this one near my home in Burlington County.

Ride of Silence Wrap Up

More than 200 cyclists rode in honor of bicyclists killed by motor vehicles in the 4th Annual Ride of Silence. The weather held nicely and we should have more video and photos up tomorrow.

On the narrow streets of Philadelphia 200 riders get noticed. On some streets bikes stretched for 3-4 full city blocks. Some pedestrians cheered us on, others may have mistaken the silent ride for Critical Mass.

The ride was held at 7PM in over 250 other cities around the world.

www.rideofsilence.org



Video of the ride along the Ben Franklin Parkway

Also see this 10 Minute Google Video of the Memorial Ceremony

Ride of Silence Tonight

We will be meeting up at 6:45 at the Art Museum Steps for the Ride of Silence. There will be a brief memorial service for the eight cyclists killed in the Greater Philadelphia region since last May before the ride starts at 7PM. The ride is 7 miles long and of course set at an easy pace.

Helmets are required and everyone will sign a waiver.

While US traffic deaths has declined slightly for many years other countries have managed to reduce traffic deaths including bicyclists deaths.

Vision Zero, is a policy of the Swedish government that requires that fatalities and serious injurious are reduced to zero in Sweden by 2020. Recently Switzerland and Finland have followed Sweden’s model.. The beauty of Vision Zero is that it sets a hard target and presses the government to achieve it.

Bike Week News Roundup

Despite being bookended by a Nor'Easter on Monday and drenching rain on Friday, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia scored a home run in getting the message out locally, regionally and nationally about biking to work, the need for more bicycling parking, and bike sharing! And Mayor Nutter was an incredible trooper for biking in pouring rain on the JCDecaux bike share bicycle from MLK Drive to City Hall accompanied by 60 bicyclists.

Photos from the Bicycle Coalition's Bike Week events (Commuter Race, Bike Parking Corrals and Bike Parking Shortage Report, Film Night, Bike to the BallPark and Bike to Work with Mayor Nutter) are here.

Many thanks to all of the Coalition's partners (Fuji Bikes, Neighborhood Bike Works, Express Coffee, International House) and many members who made this year's Bike Week so successful!

Here's a round up of the stories that appeared in print and on radio last week. We also got TV coverage by Fox29 and NBC 6.

Philadelphia Cautiously Weighs Large-Scale Bike-Sharing Plan – (5/17) AP (5/19) Metro

Mayor Nutter Uses Pedal Power on "Bike to Work Day" -- (5/16) KWY Radio

What It’s Like to Bike To Work – (5/16) listen to WHYY Radio

Bike to Week Comes but Once a Year – (5/16) Citypaper Clog

High Gas Prices Aren’t Creating More Bikers – (5/16) Red Orbit

I want to Ride My Bicycle – (5/15) CityPaper editorial

National Bike to Work Day: Bike to Work with Mayor Nutter! – (5/15) Uwishunu

Advocacy group cites bicycle parking shortage—(5/14) KYW Radio

In rush-hour battle, the bike rolls on – (5/14) Philadelphia Inquirer

Rain commences Bike to Work Week – (5/13) Courier Post

60 seconds with Alex Doty – (5/13) Metro Philadelphia

12:30 Report: Your News Update — (5/13) Philadelphia Magazine Daily Examiner

“Bike Week” in Philly gives alternatives to high gas prices – (5/12) listen to WHYY Radio

Philadelphia Cycling Committee April Meeting Notes

BCGP Philadelphia Cycling Committee
April 15, 2008


Russell Meddin called the meeting to order at 6:47

Bike Parking Project: Stuart distributed a spreadsheet with the parking data she has acquired to date. Stuart said the information that was being gathered would be used to support attempts in City Council to require bicycle parking in new residential and commercial developments and structured parking facilities.

Boyle said that he and Stuart talked to Darren Gatti and Dave Perri for two parking spaces with bike racks during Bike Week, May 12th – 16th. The spaces will be at 40th & Walnut and sixteen hundred block of Chestnut.

Bike Week Plans: Boyle said the Ben Franklin Bridge walkway will be open to 8 p.m. Bike Film Night at International House on Wednesday May 14th; Bike to the Phillies game on Thursday May 15th with NBW parking bikes.

South Street Bridge Update: Gradinger reported on the latest status of the bridge reconstruction. Secretary Cutler has said the project will not be delayed but may be willing to make some of the functional changes being promoted by the SSB Coalition. He also said that bicycles and pedestrians make up about twenty percent of peak hour traffic and that is comparable to similar travel in the Netherlands.

Jim Campbell said the Council and the Mayor have received over 500 letters supporting the Coalition’s position.

Fairmount Park Construction Updates: Boyle said that the sidewalk between the Falls Bridge and the Wissahickon Bridge will be widened to eight feet. He also said the un-signalized crosswalk at the Art Museum would be painted this summer.

Philadelphia Bike Map Wiki: Boyle presented a PowerPoint presentation on a Google map he has created that cyclists can identify hazards and other information important to cyclists. He said that currently the map was available to everyone, but if it is hacked or otherwise abused, he will see that it is secured and password protected.

April 17th Sustainability Fair: 30th Street Station, a Sustainability Fair all day and an evening lecture from 6:30 – 8 p.m. at the Academy of Natural Sciences.

2008 Bike Counts: Boyle said the Coalition would be hiring someone this year to do bike counts. However, this spring he said volunteers would be needed to complete four years of counts. South Street Bridge would be the priority for this week or next.

He wanted all counts on bridges to be completed by May 12th.

Bike Share Hearings: Meddin reported that hearings would be held on April 30th at 2 p.m. Alex Doty, Russell Meddin, Rina Cutler, Brittany Bonay, Donald Schwartz, Mark Madden, Martin McDonough (Dayco), and possibly someone from Clear Channel.

Bike Bus Taxi Conflicts: No Report

Rally for Parks Funding: Noon on Dilworth Plaza at City Hall. The rally will be in support of the Mayor’s $3MM increase in Fairmount Park funding.

Bicycle Ambassador Program update: Stuart reported that the Bicycle Ambassador Program contract was about to be completed and that Alex Doty was interested in any literature that could be used to distribute to cyclists and motorists in the course of their duties.

Old and New Business:

Ride of Silence, May 21st, 6:45 p.m. Art Museum steps.

Meeting adjourned at 8:09 p.m.

Next Meeting May 20th 6:30PM Whole Foods Fairmount, 20th and Callowhill St

Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby a Real Kick!

Could not have been a nicer day for the Second Annual Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby put on by Philadelphia's New Kensington Community Development Corporation. We arrived a little too late to see the Derby in motion, but we got photos of most of the entries. The one above was submitted by Neighborhood Bike Works. The Trenton Avenue Arts Festival was lots of fun as well. This is an event not to miss, and the Bicycle Coalition should have a table there next year! Many more photos here

Mayor Nutter Bikes To Work In The Rain

Mayor Nutter Arrives At the Philadelphia Art Musuem Before Riding Down the Ben Franklin Parkway To City Hall.

Mayor Nutter Leads by Example on Bike to Work Day

Mayor Nutter at Bike Philly 2007 Former Mayor Street is in the background

WHAT In recognition of National Bike to Work day, Mayor Nutter will lead by example and commute to City Hall by bicycle. Citizens are invited to join the Mayor on his ride at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art at 8:30 a.m. This is a rain or shine event.

WHERE Begins at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and ends at Temple University Broad Street Plaza (1515 Market Street)

WHEN Friday, May 16, 2008 8:30 a.m.
Public is invited to join the Mayor at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art 9:00 a.m. Mayor arrives at coffee reception at Temple University Plaza

WHY Friday, May 16, 2008 is National Bike to Work Day. With gas prices continuing to rise, bicyclist is the most affordable, healthy and sustainable method of commuting to work. Mayor Nutter’s participation demonstrates his commitment to making Philadelphia a sustainable city.

WHO Mayor Michael Nutter will join members of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and the public on his bicycle commute to City Hall. Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is a non-profit organization making bicycling better through advocacy and education by promoting biking as a healthy, low-cost, and environmentally-friendly form of transportation and recreation in southeast Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. http://www.bicyclecoalition.org

Ride to and Valet Bike Parking At Citizens Bank Park Tonight

Meet for a bike ride to Citizens Bank Park at City Hall's Center Courtyard at 6PM (at the compass) to watch the Phillies vs Atlanta Braves. Tickets are nearly sold out (1-3 tickets left) but you should be able to buy tickets in the same section (232?) at the Phillies Box Office upon arrival.

Valet Bike Parking will be available to all across from the left field gate at Phillies Way and 10th St. 10th St is the best bicycling entrance to the park from South Philly.

For more information contact Beth Mohan, BCGP Events Director - beth@bicyclecoalition.org



View Larger Map

Bike Parking Report Released

We had a great showing this morning at the Chestnut Street Bike Corral of Coalition members and members of the press. Thanks to everyone who came. Read Steve Tawa's story on KYW News 1060 here.

Bike Parking Press Conference Tomorrow 5-14

Chestnut St just west of 16th at 10AM

The BCGP will dedicate the opening of the on street parking in front of Liberty Place and release a report looking at the state and future of bike parking in Philadelphia.


The Bike Parking report is now available online here

Bike to the Ballpark - Phillies Tickets Still Available

Thursday May 15th, meet in the City Hall central courtyard at 6 PM. Guarded bike parking at the stadium will be provided by Neighborhood Bike Works

Tickets are still available for purchase, please contact beth@bicyclecoalition.org or call 215.242.9253 X4 by 12 noon on Wednesday.

10:49!

Congratulations to Pat Cunnane who handily won todays Commuter Challenge travelling from 45th and Spruce to the Municipal Services Building (across the street from City Hall) in just ten minutes and forty nine seconds.

2nd Place PhillyCarShare Mazda Miata - Heather Kemp 20:10

3rd Place SEPTA Bus 42 Rider - Jill Minick 35:17

















Thanks to Jim Mohan Director of the Woodbury Relays and Somerdale, NJ FD for supplying the race clock and generator. And to PhillyCarShare and Fuji Bikes for helping to make this race possible.

Bike Parking is Hot!

This is so cool, we should steal the idea and conduct one here in Philly.

New York City's Department of Transportation and The Cooper-Hewitt, Design Museum, with support from Google and Transportation Alternatives, teamed up to put on a design competition for indoor and outdoor bicycle parking racks. Called CityRacks Design Competition, they received 1202 outdoor rack submissions and 719 indoor design submissions. The awards are scheduled for October 24, 2008.

On Street Rack Goes In at Liberty Place

The Center City Rack in front of Express at Liberty Place went in at 10AM this morning at the height of the Nor'Easter.


Andy Dyson from NBW arrives at 16th and Chestnut with the bike rack in tow on his custom bike trailer, while Russell Meddin looks on.

Thanks to Andy Dyson, John Dowlin Sarah Clark Stuart and Russell Meddin for supplying time and sweat equity. And let's not forget our friends at the Streets Department granting the necessary permits.

DRPA Celebrates National Bike Week

News Released: 5/8/2008

May 12 through May 16 is National Bike Week . The Delaware River Port Authority is supporting this worthwhile effort by extending Walkway Hours on the Ben Franklin Bridge.

On Monday May 12th, Thursday May 15th and Friday May 16th the South walkway will be open until 8pm.

On Tuesday May 13th and Wednesday May 14th when the Camden Riversharks will be hosting the Long Island Ducks, the South walkway will be open until 10pm or 30 minutes after the last out.

The Ben Franklin Bridge Walkways would normally close at 7pm.

The Delaware River Port Authority is a regional transportation agency. DRPA owns and operates the Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross bridges, PATCO, the Philadelphia Cruise Terminal and the RiverLink Ferry.

Philly Walk Ride Share Blogs One Week In

The participants of the PhillyCarShare WalkRideShare challenge have submitted blog entries for the first week, and while no one seems to be stumbling too much it does seem that those who have included bicycling in there car-fee mix are having an easier time adjusting.

Myriah writes in her blog - I’ve determined that driving, finding parking, and then walking the hike from my car to my office takes about 25 minutes. The Girard trolley to the Broad Street subway takes about 20 minutes and biking takes even a few minutes less (although I have to change my clothes when I get to work)… not bad!

Leah Opens her Journal with - I've spent quite a while thinking that having a car on a Saturday night in downtown Phily is a status symbol. But, I'm realizing that little beats a bike downtown for cheapness and convenience.

Looking at a few entries that were negative it appears that a little orientation might go a long way,
Dennis writes -
I took my bike on the El, and I found that getting out of the subway
with a bike can be a challenge! I managed to almost get stuck in
one of those floor-to-ceiling turnstiles ( I stood the bike up,
reached through the bars and pushed the bike from the next spot in
the turnstile). There must be a better way to get out of the
subway. I'll have to find the handicap exits at the transit stations.

Perhaps next year we'll work with PCS to convey some urban bicycling basics to the participants.

On Street Bike Rack Goes In At 40th and Walnut

Click on the Photo to view the album (slideshow).

Neighborhood Bike Works Executive Director Andy Dyson nails down the final traffic cone for the city's first On Street Parking in front of the Bridge Cinema De Luxe at 40th and Chestnut St.



The bike rack completed with parked bikes. It will be in place until May29.

What About That Oil Futures Price Gadget Over There

Anyone who is bombarded by business reports on the news can sort of figure out the price of oil and gas. But it's still confusing and I don't know if the following explanation makes it any clearer, but it should help you read the chart.

What is ICE? - IntercontinentalExchange® (NYSE: ICE) operates global commodity and financial products marketplaces, including the world’s leading electronic energy markets and soft commodity exchange.

WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil is of very high quality and is excellent for refining a larger portion of gasoline. (wikipedia).
The unit price listed is in US Dollars per barrel.

Gas Oil Is the volume of total trades of the gas and oil commodities. (ICE)

RBOB (Reformulated Gasoline Blendstock for Oxygen Blending) Futures is the new name for unleaded gas futures. The price listed is in cents so 300 is really $3 (duh). According to About.com you can add about 65 cents to the price to estimate the cost of gasoline for the next week.

Brent Crude - Oil from the North Sea. Brent blend is a light crude oil, though not as light as WTI. The unit price is in US Dollars.(wikipedia)

Heating oil accounts for about 25% of the yield of a barrel of crude oil, the second largest "cut" after gasoline.
(wikipedia)

UK Natural Gas - Measured in GBX Pence Sterling per Therm (100K BTU's). Fifty Pence equals about One US Dollar. (ICE and coinmill.com)

Bike Week Activities

Saturday, May 10th 11am
Bike Philly Volunteer Ride & Picnic

Meet at the steps of Art Museum and ride to Mt. Pleasant Mansion.The Coalition will lead a VIP tour of the Bike Philly course ending at the beautiful Mount Pleasant. There we'll treat our volunteers to a scrumptious barbeque and private tour of the Mount Pleasant mansion (appropriate footwear required, no bike cleats inside the mansion). The winners of the Bike Philly 2007 photo contest will be announced. Like Bike Philly, this will be a family-friendly event and all are welcome. Please RSVP or direct questions to beth@bicyclecoalition.org.

Monday, May 12th 10am
On-Street Bicycle Parking Demonstration

The week begins with the take over of two on-street car parking spaces in Center City and University City to accommodate bicycle parking. The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia will address the state of bicycle parking in Philadelphia at a press conference at 10:00 a.m. at 16th and Chestnut Street.

Tuesday, May 13th 8:30 - 9:00 AM
Fourth Annual Commuter Race

The Fourth Annual Commuter Race between a bicyclist, a car driver and a transit rider. The race will test the theory that a bicyclist who commutes four miles or less in Philadelphia will generally arrive before, or within a few minutes of, other commuters during rush hour. The exciting finish will take place at City Hall.

Wednesday, May 14th 7pm
Bike Film Night

Join us for a special screening of classic cycling film Breaking Away. This family-friendly movie begins at 7:00 p.m., and a $5.00 suggested donation includes soda provided by Olde Philadelphia Soda and popcorn. Complimentary valet bike parking will be provided by Neighborhood Bike Works.

International House 3701 Chestnut Street.
An RSVP is appreciated to 215.BICYCLE, ext.4. or email beth@bicyclecoalition.org.

Thursday, May 15th 6pm
Bike to the Ballpark Night

Skip the traffic and parking fees and bike to Citizens Bank Park. Meet at City Hall at 6pm for a group ride to the ballpark and watch the Phillies challenge the Braves (game time 7:05pm). Complimentary valet bike parking will be provided by Neighborhood Bike Works. Tickets ($25 each) for Bike to the Ballpark Night are limited and must be reserved in advance. Please call 215.BICYCLE, ext.4. or email beth@bicyclecoalition.org.

Friday, May 16th 8:30am
Bike to Work Day with Mayor Nutter

Bike to Work Week is anchored by National Bike to Work Day on Friday. Philadelphia's Mayor Nutter will lead by example and commute to City Hall by bicycle. Citizens are invitedto ride with Mayor Nutter from the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art at 8:30 a.m. The ride ends at a reception at Temple University's Broad Street Plaza (across from City Hall) for complimentary coffee, tea and bagels provided by Cafe Express Breakfast & Lunch and South Street Bagel Company.

Delaware County TMA's Bike to Work Day

8am-10am
County Court House
Front and Olive Streets
Media, PA
Details

Saturday, May 17th 12-5pm
Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby

Don't miss this second annual design competition and parade celebrating art and human powered transit that is part of the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival.

May 12th-16th
Ben Franklin Bridge Walkway

The bridge walkway will be open until 8pm throughout the week, and open until 10pm (or 30 minutes after the last out) on Tuesday and Wednesday for the RiverSharks games.

Bike Pottstown Launches Community Bike Sharing on May 8

Bike Pottstown the first community Bike Sharing program in SE Pennsylvania launches on Thursday May 8.

Here is a description of Bike Pottstown on their website

Bike Pottstown is a community bike share program. The bikes are property of Bike Pottstown and are free for the community to use. To take a bike, you must leave a valid form of identification upon checkout. The bike can be ridden anywhere in the Borough of Pottstown. The bike must be returned by the end of the day, 5 p.m.

The purpose of Bike Pottstown is to promote bicycling as an alternative to driving, and to improve the physical fitness of the community. Bicycling is accepted as an excellent source of excercise, and transportation. By providing bikes for the community to use, Bike Pottstown is removing cars from the road, and promoting physical fitness.

Use Bike Pottstown bikes to: tour the Borough's Historic District, ride on the Schuylkill River Trail, shopping on High Street, spend time with family and friends, get out of the office during lunch!

Platinum Portland

In case you haven't heard Portland OR has become the first city over 100,000 residents to become a Platinum Level Bicycle Friendly Community.

So how does Portland compare to Philadelphia? BFC's Press Release Offers Some Highlights:

• Portland’s bikeway network includes 270 miles of on-street bike lanes, bike boulevards, and paved trails; another 40 miles of unpaved trails offer mountain biking opportunities in city parks.
Philadelphia has 205 miles of on-street but no bicycle boulevards and about 25 miles of paved trails.

• A city ordinance requires bike parking in new development and redevelopment projects; another provides a huge incentive for developers to provide showers and locker rooms
There is no such ordinance in Philadelphia

• Six bike corrals have been installed, each replacing one on-street car parking space with 12 bicycle spaces
There are no on street bike parking facilities in Philadelphia however there will be a demo bike on-street parking project during bike week, the Streets Department is also considering permanent locations.

• 400 bikeway destination signs have been installed (with 400 to come) on the bikeway network
There are a limited amount of signs on the Schuylkill River Trail but no general signage on the network.

• More than 1,000 traffic offenders (including cyclists) have been through a two-hour “Share the Road” Safety Class
Nope

• More than 400 bicycle light sets are distributed annually to low-income bicyclists by the city, Tri-Met (the transit agency) and the Community Cycling Center.
Nope although this number seems small compared to the amount of bicycles out there.

• 2,250 elementary students annually receive a 10-hour bicycle safety course as part of a larger Safer Routes to School initiative. The course is delivered by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and has helped increase bicycling to school by 5% in just one school year.
The BEEP Program is modeled after the same bike safety course, however it has not been implemented on a district wide level.

• The city distributes 35,000 citywide bicycle maps and another 35,000 local area maps. The citywide map is also reproduced in the Portland phone book.
A new version of the map will be available next year and it will not be in the phone book.

• More than 9,100 people participated in the 2007 Bicycle Commuter Challenge, including 1,700 first-time bike commuters
There is no such program in Philadelphia although the Delaware County TMA's has a scaled down version of this challenge.

• A Tri-Met survey found that three-fifths of area employment sites provide bike parking and ten percent offer incentives to employees who bicycle.
Nope, it is probably less than 5% in the city.

• 20,000 participants in the Providence Bridge Pedal make Portland home to the second largest community bike ride in the United States (after Bike New York)
Bike Philly is starting to ramp up, we hope for 5,000 riders this year.

• 2,000 hardy riders fill the annual Worst Day of the Year ride in early February
There is no comparable ride in Philadelphia, although except for this year (they got more snow for once) our worst day easily eclipses Portland's.

• The Bicycle Transportation Alliance boasts 3,000 members in the city and is just one of many advocacy and riding groups that organize thousands of rides, events and bicycling activities year-round
The Bicycle Coalition has close to 800 members in the city and a there are a few bike clubs and organizations that sponsor bicycle activities.

• Creation of the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovations at Portland State University will help ensure technology transfer and much-needed research into innovative ways to encourage bicycling
Nope

• The city boasts 40 bike shops and more than 150 bicycle-related businesses that provide thousands of green-collar jobs and with an economic benefit of more than $65 million (2005)
Philadelphia has about 30 shops and is the headquarters for Fuji Bikes, Bilenky Bikes, 2 pedicab companies, a half dozen messenger companies, dozens of businesses the deliver food by bike the BCGP and Neighborhood Bike Works.

No Justice, No Peace!

Well not quite, but at Bridgewater-Raritan High School in New Jersey students took a stand against an arcane school policy that bans students from bicycling to school.

It all began when the school environmental group donated funds for a school bike rack to the school reduce their carbon footprint. And ironically on Earth Day Principal James Riccobono. came back with a firm NO.

What happened next though was nothing short of inspiring as described in the Newark Star Ledger;

Offended by the snub, students promptly began planning a response. Yesterday, more than 50 students rode their bikes to school, commuting in pairs and groups. After studying up on state biking laws -- and carrying copies with them -- the students legally tethered their bikes in conspicuous clusters around lamp posts, trees and other poles dotting the circular drive in front of the school.

A tip of the helmet to the courageous and enlightened students at Bridgewater-Raritan High.

Using Google Maps To Improve Suburban Bicycling

Sometimes bicycling in the suburbs can be a lonely expedition, the contrast of bicycling on quiet streets to the squeeze of slow Center City weekday traffic is evident to me on every weekday rail commute. Yet there is no comparison, I can count more bikes on the South Street Bridge in an hour than I can count the bikes passing on my street in a month.

But the internet is empowering and maps are empowering, which is why I am constantly creating new maps.

BCGP President Hans van Naerssen suggested taking our regional bike map and snipping the data inside individual municipalities. I used Tredyffrin Township in Chester County as an example. Our data on our bikemap is quite large so I decided to eyeball the routes on our paper map and traced them into Google.


View Larger Map

When you zoom in you see some interesting details, for examples neighborhood streets that could not depicted on the paper map show up as natural bike routes on the Google Map.

But maybe you want to make changes in your community. You know the problems, that evil doublewide drainage grate that road with fast traffic and no shoulders the lack of bike parking in the business district. Perhaps you want to think broadly and push for your community to adopt a bicycle pedestrian plan for future improvements.

The map of Edgewater Park NJ is similar to the Philadelphia Bike Map Wiki. However I included pedestrian issues since my goal is to create a broad level of support for improvements.


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Anyone who invests an hour or so to familiarize themselves with Google MyMaps can do this for their town. If you need to help or would like to add some nice icons please send me an email
john@bicyclecoalition.org

Phillies Go Green?

Citizens Bank Park has only space available for 32 bikes (2 wave racks (16 spaces each) at the first base gate and the right field gate) for the public. So it was with a sigh that I read about the Phillies going green in yesterday's Inquirer. It's certainly great that the Phillies decided to buy green power, but why can't they be truly green and accomodate those fans who want to produce no carbon emissions when getting to the park by providing more than 32 bike parking spaces in comparison to the 21,000 car parking spaces?

As pointed out in a previous post, the Washington Nationals new ballpark has 250 bike parking spaces. If the Phillies can pony up to wear green hats and buy wind power, they could hit a home run by installing 210 good bike racks (1% of their car parking spaces).

Bike Share Hearing Makes A Media Splash

Entries we found on Google News

Bike-sharing program piques Council's interest
Philadelphia Daily News, PA - 3 hours ago
By CHRIS BRENNAN There was consensus in a City Council hearing yesterday that a shared-bicycle program in Philadelphia would help clear traffic congestion, ...

Wheels start turning on bike-sharing concept Philadelphia Inquirer, PA - 3 hours ago By Jeff Shields City officials yesterday embraced the concept of bicycle sharing as a way to reduce traffic and pollution, but said many questions must be ...

City Council Holds Hearing On Bike-Sharing Program
NBC 10.com, PA - 18 hours ago
There will be a public hearing Wednesday afternoon discussing the idea of bringing a bike-sharing program to Philadelphia. The hearing will take place in ...

Philly Considering Bike Share Program
CBS 3, PA - Apr 28, 2008
Riders would be able to take a bike from any station and ride it one-way to any other station within the city. Doty hopes to see hundreds of stations ...