Mercer County's Interactive Bike Map

Last week the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission launched the Mercer County Regional Bike Map overlayed on a Google Map. This map is intended to be a resource for Mercer County residents and bicyclists to help them plan bicycle-friendly routes to ride, and also to help planners identify priority bicycle corridors and facilities to be considered in the future.

http://www.dvrpc.org/asp/bikemercer/

For the next month or so DVRPC and Mercer County would like your input on priority bicycle routes, and your opinions on the routes submitted by others, as well as any knowledge you have about the bikeability ratings shown here: are they too high, too low, or do they not reflect a specific local issue that you know about? Comments will help improve the bikeability scores shown on the site. Proposed routes and comments will be accepted until Friday, March 12th.

Bicycle Coalition Featured on "Philadelphia Velib"

As part of its "Philadelphia Stories" series WYBE will be broadcasting Philadelphia’s Velib’ Andrew David Watson’s film on on bicycling and bike sharing in Philadelphia. The broadcast will be on Channel 35-1 at 9PM on Thursday Night (1/28)

Check out the trailer of this video on Andrew David Watson's Website.













If you miss the first broadcast there will be 4 repeats between Thursday and Sunday on Channels 35-1 and 35-2. Schedule

Morris Arboretum Offers 50% Discount For Cyclists.

Love Temple, Morris Arboretum
Originally uploaded by Tie Guy II

The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania in Chestnut Hill offers a discount for those who arrive by bicycle. Bicyclists can visit the grounds for $7. Normal admission for non-members is $14.

Getting to the Morris Arboretum is easy. Take the Wissahickon Bikeway and Forbidden Drive to the end and turn right on Northwestern Avenue. Cross Germantown Ave and proceed on Northwestern Ave to the entrance on the left right.

For more information go to http://morrisarboretum.org.

This Week's Schuylkill River Trail Public Meetings

Tonight on January 26th, the 3rd public meeting will be held to discuss the design ideas on the Cynwyd Trail.  6:30 pm at the West Laurel Hill Cemetery.  Now is the time to weigh in on design treatments that meet the needs of bicyclists!  You can also take an online survey. 

On Thursday, January 28th, there's a double feature of SRT meetings in Southwest Philadelphia.


5:30pm  Bartram’s Garden Path Public Meeting in the Coach Barn at Bartram's Garden, 54th Street and Lindbergh Blvd. 5:30 PM More information: SRT at Bartram’s Garden

7:00pm  58th Street Connector Public Meeting New Spirit Community Presbyterian Church
5736 Chester Avenue at 58th Street  More Information: 58th St. Connector

Red Bowl 2010: A FUNdraiser for the Bicycle Coalition

Join the Bike Coalition and local Bike Shops for the 2010 Red Bowl: Enjoy free bowling, fun bike-related activities, raffle prizes, and beer specials, while helping to raise money for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia!

Check out new and cool bikes from Cannondale, Specialized, Fuji, MAVIC, and many more. Plus, Neighborhood Bike Works will be providing free valet bike parking. All proceeds benefit the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.

When: Saturday, March 6, 2010 2-6pm
Where: North Bowl Lounge, 909 N. 2nd St., Philadelphia PA 19123
Cost: $10 pre-register/ $15 day-of
Tickets include FREE bowling and raffle prizes. Cash bar & food.

Pre-register for tickets here. The first 100 people to pre-register a ticket will receive a free commemorative water bottle!


Presented by Specialized, Keswick Cycles, Bike Therapy, Bucks County Bicycle Company and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition's 1972 Commuter Race

From the BCGP History Vault: May 1st 1972 - In honor of National Bike Week, proclaimed by President Nixon, the newly formed Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition held its first bicycle commuter race. And the first known media article about the Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition, "Cycles Beat Cars in Center City Rush Hour", appeared on the front page of the May 2nd, 1972 edition of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.




















The commuter race was quite an event: it involved 3 private automobiles, a motorcycle, a taxi (driven by Coalition founder John Dowlin) and at least 5 bicycles. The motorcycle (driven by the reporter Douglas D. Gill) took the checkered flag, while bicyclist Ronald Howard came in 2nd (pictured) arriving 2 minutes later, and followed by shortly by 4 bikes with the cars arriving 10 minutes later. Dowlin's taxi came in dead last 17 minutes behind the leader.

The Bicycle Coalition started hosting an Commuter Race again during the 2005 Transit Strike. The Commuter Race currently occurs annually during Bike Month (May) and includes a bicyclist, a car driver, and transit rider.

And perhaps a testament as to how far we have come, the article quotes Keystone AAA Safety Director Roy D. Hanshaw as saying "If more bicyclists started using Center City streets there would be a dramatic increase in accidents".

I am glad that he was wrong.

Bike Summits Everywhere

I remember when there was only one bike summit-The national one in Washington. Now it seems that every gathering of three or more bicyclists is called a bike summit. Well maybe I'm getting a little cynical in my old age. Actually it's a great thing, Delaware took the lead last year with it's first bike summit last April, and in 2010 all three states in our area have set the dates for their respective bike summits.

New Jersey Bike Summit - February 27th in Denville, NJ
National Bike Summit - March 9 - 11th Washington DC
Pennsylvania Bike Summit - May 4th at the Capitol in Harrisburg
Delaware Bike Summit - May 21st at the Wilmington Opera House

No (New) Hope At Bucks County's Stealth Transit Hub

The Trans-Bridge Bus can be seen parked on S. Clinton Street at Doylestown Station.

There are some great getaway bicycle destinations that are just beyond SEPTA's reach. You can drive there, and even car-lite ZipCar and PhillyCarShare members can get there for a healthy chunk of change. But getting there in a car does increase one's carbon footprint and takes away the sense of adventure - of being far away when you are not really far away at all. The unique experience of a one way bike trip is normally available only to those who take public transportation.

And sometimes you can get there from here without a car, It's just that no one has made the effort to make it easy. A perfect example is the Doylestown Train Station. In addition to the SEPTA R5 Regional Rail the station is served by Trans-Bridge Bus Lines serving New Hope, Frenchtown, Bethlehem and New York City. SEPTA Route 55 and Doylestown Rush Circulator buses also stop at or close to the station.

You would expect a transportation nexus to have the amenities to make connections easy. But the feeling you get is that Doylestown is the end of the line. There are no signs directing you from the train to the bus. If you ask the SEPTA ticket agent about information regarding Trans-Bridge Lines you will probably get a shoulder shrug in return. You cannot buy Trans-Bridge tickets or find schedules at the station (the driver will let you buy a ticket at the first stop). If there is a relationship between SEPTA and Trans-Bridge it is adversarial-SEPTA will ticket and tow Trans-Bridge passengers who park in their commuter lot.


View Doylestown Transit Hub in a larger map


Trans-Bridge accepts bicycles if the luggage compartment beneath the bus is free. They can charge you $7 plus make you sign a damage waiver. However I have taken Trans-Bridge several times and have been able to take my bike without charge.

A bit of planning ahead of time will get you to your destination. But why make it so hard? I would encourage people to write to SEPTA customer service and ask that better connecting bus information be made available at Doylestown and other R5 stations. Simply making schedules available would be a great start.

Prospect Park Teenage Cyclist Killed

As reported by various new sources:

A 17-year-old Prospect Park youth riding a bicycle died after being hit by a car in Glenolden yesterday afternoon, police said.

The accident on South Avenue near Linwood Circle was reported at 12:27 p.m., Glenolden Police Chief Michael Donohue said. The boy, whose name was not released, was struck by a 2006 Toyota Scion driven by a 71-year-old Springfield man. The teen was riding in the opposite direction and was hit when he tried to cross the road. The driver did not leave the scene.

The teen died at Crozer-Chester Medical Center. The accident was being investigated by the Southeastern Delaware County Crash Team.

Update - The victim has been identified as William James Bradley V


View 2010 Bicycle Crashes in a larger map

Philadelphia Cycling Committee Meeting Tuesday January, 19 6:30 PM

Regular monthly City Committee meets at The Bicycle Coalition Office 1500
Walnut Street Suite 1107 on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 6:30 PM (6:00 PM
refreshments)

There is no scheduled guest speaker for this meeting, but we will be
discussing the turned up the heat under the Bykofsky stew, the Center City
District (CCD) Market Street/ JFK Blvd. bike lanes plan: Item #7, page 2 in
http://www.centercityphila.org/docs/CCDigest-Winter09.pdf

Lane Brains

Stu Bykofsky of the Daily News went on another tirade yesterday, accusing the Bicycle Coalition of all kinds of whatnot and the Streets Department of failing to adequately evaluate the Spruce Pine bike lanes. Daily News writer Vance Lehmkuhl wrote a great post in the "Earth to Philly" blog skewering the ridiculousness of Stu's arguments and included in the Letter to the Editor that Alex (Doty, Executive Director of the Bicycle Coalition) had just sent in as a response (and which the Daily News will run sometime in the print edition next week.) Read it and weep. Thank you Vance!

Road warrior vs. lane-brains

Following up on his promise to cast a skeptical eye on the city's bike-lane report, DN columnist Stu Bykofsky yesterday cast, well, a skeptical eye on the city's bike-lane report.

Maybe "jaundiced" is more descriptive of how it turned out, because Stu essentially tarred the "pro-bike lane" report as fraudulent, for several stated reasons.

For one, he took issue with the city accepting numbers from the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, which Stu believes is "like letting a defense attorney buy the jury lunch." For another, he was aghast that the city did not count cars at key intersections during rush hour.

Either of these might very well be valid concerns (see below on the Bicycle Coalition one), but in his signature style, Stu pushed it all further. He implied sinister motives in the timing and placement of the report's release. He pronounced bikes to be "dangerous" -- apparently unlike, say, cars. He focused on supposedly damning details, such as that "most bikers are male" (wait, I thought you were on our side, Stu!) and that "83 percent of Philadelphians who commute by bike live within a four-mile radius of City Hall. In other words, walking distance."

Four miles is a walkable commute? From Front Street to West Philly? From Broad and Oregon to Temple University? That's not one I'd want to undertake twice daily unless I had all the time in the world and was in need of a simple fitness regimen.

At any rate, Alex Doty of the Bicycle Coalition responded with a letter that will run in next week's paper, but he (and the Letters Editor) agreed, when I called him for comment, that I could cite it here. It follows after the jump.

Alex Doty's response:

Stu Bykofsky suggests that relying on “car and bike numbers” from the Bicycle Coalition is like “letting a defense attorney buy the jury lunch.” It’s a distracting lead-in to criticism of a report in which all of the data was collected by the Streets Department. But even more disconcerting is that the first two statistics Stu chooses to attribute to the Bicycle Coalition are actually from the U.S. Census Bureau. Only when he reaches the statistic for sidewalk riding does he reach a statistic generated by the Bicycle Coalition’s counts. We would welcome the presence of an impartial authority conducting regular bike and pedestrian counts in Philadelphia but until that day comes, our counts fill a void. And the latest Census Bureau survey backs up the integrity of our data: the 104% increase in bicycling that our counts documented from 2005 to 2008 was mirrored by a 97% increase in bicycling documented over the same time period in Philadelphia by the federal government.

Stu is right that the point is not to build separated bike lanes for the people who currently commute by bike. The new lanes were built for the much larger number of people who might bike instead of driving if they felt more comfortable and safer riding in the street. And the Coalition's counts found that they work: not only did bicycling go up 97% in the few weeks after the bike lanes on Spruce and Pine were installed but sidewalk riding dropped between 41 and 75 percent (depending on the intersection). So, the Streets Department found little to no impact on car travel times. The Bicycle Coalition found positive impacts for bikes and pedestrians. The only person who is convinced the new bike lanes are not working is the guy who can't get his facts straight.

Posted by Vance Lehmkuhl @ 4:58 PM Permalink | File Under: Policy | | Wheels | Post a comment

Suburban Bike Route Projects Finally Getting Underway

Three signed suburban bike routes that were originally planned by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission in 1998 are finally moving forward towards construction. Bicyclists Baltimore Pike (Delaware), Old Baltimore Pike (Chester) and Susquehanna Road (Montgomery) are scheduled to begin construction in March with a projected completion date of June 1.

Improvements will include navigational signage, shoulder and drainage grate improvements and in a few sections real bike lanes.

Old Baltimore Pike - Chester County




Bicyclists Baltimore Pike - Delaware County




Susquehanna Rd - Montgomery County


View Suburban Bike Routes in a larger map

You may be wondering why Bucks County does not have a project here. It was because the County declined to participate in the project. Fortunately times have changed as Bucks County has a Bicycle Advisory Task Force and is developing a bicycle plan.

LifeSavers Conference Comes To Philadelphia - Bicycle and Pedestrian Advocates Needed

The Lifesavers Conference is the premier national highway safety meeting in the United States dedicated to reducing the tragic toll of deaths and injuries on our nation's roadways. Starting in the early 1980s, the Lifesavers conference attendance has grown steadily, drawing nearly 2,000 participants in 2009. Each year, the Lifesavers Conference provides a forum that delivers relevant and timely common-sense solutions to today's critical highway safety problems.

The conference addresses a wide range of safety topics, from child passenger safety and occupant protection to roadway and vehicle safety and technology. It offers the latest information on advances in highway safety, highlights successful programs and draws attention to emerging safety issues.

But sadly the conference workshop schedule offers scant programming for pedestrians and bicyclists. There are bright spots here and there such as the Safe Routes To School session, Road Safety Audits as well as several workshops concerning law enforcement. It would be difficult for conference attendees to take away a whole lot of bike/ped safety info from the conference but to borrow Woody Allen's famous quote "Eighty percent of success is showing up."

"Showing up" may help conference planners chart a new course to make next year's event more reflective of the National Highway Statistics. For example conference planners offer recommended tracks such as "adult vehicle occupant protection" track and "impaired driver" track. We will look forward to the addition of a "vulnerable road user" track at next years conference in Phoenix.

Lifesavers Conference
April 11 - 13
Pennsylvania Convention Center
http://www.lifesaversconference.org/

MLK Service Opportunities

Two areas that are part of the Complete the Schuylkill River Trail segments are holding volunteer service projects on MLK Day, January 18, 2010.

Lower Merion's Cynwyd Trail Cleanup 9:30-12:30



Southwest Phila's Bartram's Garden 9am
RSVP to UC Green wharris@ucgreen.org

SEPTA Surveys Bicyclists

Entering the Railcar
Originally uploaded by Philly Bike Coalition

SEPTA's Customer Service Department is conducting a survey of riders who use bicycles. Please take a few moments to fill out their survey to provide more feedback to SEPTA as it reviews its bicycle policies.

Phila. Park and Recreation Commission First Public Meeting

Commission on Parks & Recreation

Meeting of January 20, 2010

6:00 PM

Horticultural Center (map)

AGENDA

1. Welcome/Call to Order/Introductions

2. Public Comments

3. Report from Commissioner of Parks & Recreation and staff

4. Committee reports

5. Presentation: Pennsylvania Horticultural Society

6. Old/New Business

7. Adjournment

Darby Creek Greenway Master Plan Presentation

Upper Darby Township and Delaware County are sponsoring a public meeting to present the Darby Creek Greenway Master Plan. You are invited to attend this meeting to learn more about this important open space initiative from members of the project planning team.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2010
7:45 P.M.
UPPER DARBY TOWNSHIP
MUNICIPAL BUILDING
100 GARRETT ROAD, ROOM 202

Bikeshare Study Almost Complete

Over the last year, the Bicycle Coalition has been working with the Mayor's Office of Transportation and Utilities and the William Penn Foundation on a Philadelphia Bikeshare Concept Study. The study, authored by JzTI and Bonnette Consulting with additional work by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), examines the potential for success of a proposed bikeshare program in Philadelphia. The report includes a review of programs in comparable cities, demand determination for bikesharing in Philadelphia, a review of local factors and key challenges and local recommendations.

The final draft is going through its last edits and will be released in the next few weeks. The study has attracted national attention and the methods that DVRPC used to model demand for bike sharing will be presented next week at the Transportation Research Board conference in Washington, DC.

Keep your ears open for the announcement releasing the completed report!

Take Action - Bikes & Peds Deserve Space on Scudder Falls Bridge

The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission remains uncommitted to including a walkway on the new Scudder Falls (I-95) Bridge that they plan to build over the Delaware River, even though a new pathway is the number one request from the public. The Commission is taking public comments on its "Environmental Assessment" until February 4, 2009.

Make your voice heard that the new bridge must include a bike/ped pathway:

1 - Submit testimony at one of two public hearings and testify that you support the pathway

• Tuesday January 19, 2010 Villa Victoria Academy, 376 Upper Ferry Road, Ewing NJ (MAP)
• Wednesday January 20, 2010 Sheraton Bucks County Hotel, 400 Oxford Valley Rd, Langhorne, PA (MAP)

2 - Send Your Comments to the Bridge Commission

Report Bicycle-Incidents Directly to Philadelphia Police Districts

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has created a SeeClickFix map that allows anyone to report a bicycle-related incident to the Philadelphia Police District where the incident occurred. If you are harassed by a motor vehicle, experience road rage, are involved in a crash, or see a chronically blocked bike lane, fill out a report using this webtool so that the report goes directly to the Police District office and 311. Take a look at the instructions for filling out a incident report.

The reports filled out on this map are intended to document the incidents and make the Police Districts aware of bicycle-related incidents as they are occurring. The Bicycle Coalition will also receive a copy of the reports and they will be seen online at the map's webpage.

If you are involved in a crash, always call 911 and make sure an "accident report" is filled out by the responding officer.



Check out BCGP's Report a Problem page for more information on how to report other types of problems (e.g. potholes, etc.)

Race Street Pier Public Meeting

There's an opportunity to learn more about Philadelphia's Race Street Pier (Pier #11 just south of the Ben Franklin Bridge) and the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation's (the new Penn's Landing Corp.) plans to redevelop it as a destination park.

A public engagement meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 11th from 6:30-8:00pm at the Blue Cross River Rink. Free skating afterwards until 9pm! You can easily walk from the 2nd Street stop of Market- Frankford line or ride your bike.

Meeting with Councilmen DiCicco and Kenney

On January 5th, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia attended a very productive meeting convened by Deputy Mayor Rina Cutler that included Councilmen DiCicco and Kenney, a number of city agencies and the Philadelphia Bicycle Messengers Association. Both City Councilmen were anxious to make clear that they are not anti-bike -- Councilman DiCicco pointed out he has raised no objections to the Spruce Pine bike lanes that are in his district -- but that they have serious concerns about bike safety as the number of bike riders continues to grow. Those concerns – sidewalk riding, riding the wrong way and running red lights – are concerns that the Bicycle Coalition shares. Concerns that the Bicycle Coalition has about enforcement of laws for motor vehicles and parking in bike lanes were likewise issues both City Councilmen expressed concern about.

In the end, we reached a consensus that we need to make our streets and sidewalks safer for all users through increased enforcement of the rules of the road for bicyclists, motorists and pedestrians. How to do that, and whether the existing laws suffice, is the more difficult question.

Deputy Mayor Cutler committed to creating a Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Committee to investigate policies, actions, regulations and legislation to increase safety. The committee membership is in the works, but is sure to include representation from: Councilmen DiCicco and Kenney, Philadelphia Police Department, the Bicycle Coalition and the Philadelphia Bicycle Messengers Association.

Councilmen DiCicco and Kenney stated that they intended the introduction of their bills as the beginning of a conversation about increasing safety and enforcement and that the forming of the committee is an important step in that direction. Given that progress, both Councilmen will hold their bills pending the recommendations of the safety committee.

Chester County Cycling Coalition Meeting - January 25

The Chester County Cycling Coalition (CCCC) will be holding its winter meeting at the Chester County Planning Commission.

Monday, JANUARY 25th 7:00PM
Chester County Government Services Building
601 Westtown Road West Chester PA 19380-0990,Room #149
Directions

All interested parties who have a vested interest in bicycling in Chester County are welcome to attend. That includes if you are a commuter, a recreational biker or a transportation groupie. Chime in with your recommendations & walk or ride away feeling good about contributing in helping to reduce the carbon footprint in your communities.


MEETING AGENDA:

Reports, updates

• Landscapes 2 (County Planning and Policy Document)
• Chester Valley Trail
• Route 202 - Section 100 Bikeway (West Chester to DE State Line)
  
• Patriots Trail
• Route 322 update
• Grated Bridges
• Route 100 expansion
• PA Turnpike slip ramp at Whitehorse Road at Route 29
• Schuylkill River Trail Cromby to Spring City

General advocacy-legislature contacts

• Sierra Club: Making West Chester more bike friendly

Organization

• Electing a new Chair
• Communications
• dBase Management
• Utilizing BCGP ‘s regional scope to increase membership & outreach;
• Connector routes in around West Chester, Coatesville, Phoenixville & Kennett

Specific Projects

• Supporting CCBikeWorks
• Funding through Grants, bike racks

Support-Compliance thru BCGP

• Establishing THREE PRIORITIES for the coming year
• Goals; Long Term, Near Term, Define Problems

Please submit any additions to the agenda to Fred Rothman, oneonone@verizon.net 1-610-431-4311

For more info about the Chester County Cycling Coalition go to - http://www.bicyclecoalition.org/member/chester

SEPTA and Lehigh Valley Communities Forge New Trail From Bucks County Line

According to an article in the December 31st Morning Call, SEPTA is signing a lease agreements with 4 municipalities in Lehigh and Northampton Counties for it's Bethlehem Branch line from the Bucks County Line in Upper Saucon Township and Coopersburg to Hellertown near the south campus of Lehigh University.

The trail which will probably will remain a gravel surface officials expect construction to be completed before the end of the year although one person interviewed had his doubts.

The plan for portion of the rail line from Quakertown and south is an extension of the SEPTA R5 from Lansdale.


View Lehigh Valley Rail Trail in a larger map

Fallen Cyclists (And Pedestrians) in 2009

Bicyclists killed by Automobile in 2009:

• 07/16/09 - Rick Clendaniel 42, a Gloucester County High School teacher in Vineland, NJ on Mays Landing Road . The driver swerved into the shoulder and struck Clendaniel before hitting a telephone pole. Robert Byrd was charged with speeding and not wearing a seat belt.
• 07/27/09 - Cheryl Janzer, 50 in Bristol, PA struck while crossing US 13. No charges were filed.
• 09/10/09 - Anthony Hoffman 51 in Bridgeport, NJ at the interchange of US 322 and US 130 not far from the Commodore Barry Bridge, no charges were filed. Sun glare and the lack of shoulders on the overpass may have been factors

2009 was the year that the Philadelphia media did not report a single fatal bicycle crash in city. But that does not mean that no one was killed, past comparisons have shown that two to three fatal bicycle crashes were not reported by the media and we won't know the final tally until the National Highway Transportation Safety Adminstration (NHTSA) releases their statistics in the summer or fall. In the meantime I will remain an optimist and consider this good news.

2009 was also a year that the press reported on pedestrians that were killed by bicyclists within one week of each other.

• 10/08/09 Tom Archie, 78 - Struck by a cyclist going the wrong way on Passyunk Ave.
• 10/15/09 Andre Steed, 40 - According to eyewitnesses was struck by a hit and run bicyclist in the street near the intersection of 16th and Locust

I found only one account that measured that magnitude of the problem, New York City recorded 11 killed by bike deaths in 10 years 1996 -2005. Statistically NYC is 6 times the size of Philadelphia, has a slightly higher percentage of people that walk to work and the number of people that take (and walk to) public transportation is double. Quick math in my head concludes that the ratio of pedestrians between New York City and Philadelphia is at least 12:1.

Several non-fatal bicycle crashes did make the news:

• On May 21st a father and and his 4 YO son were struck by an motorist driving an SUV who swerved left into the pedestrian island around a car that yielded for the cyclist. The driver was not charged. The Bicycle Coalition actively pushed for several safety improvements to the intersection and late last year a button activated traffic light was installed.
• On June 16th Amanda Gillern was struck by a taxi driver who fled the scene. She was hospitalized with broken bones including her neck as well as a punctured lung. Some called for a boycott of Old City Cab company since drivers are tracked by GPS. Ms. Gillern reported that the suspect was finally arrested in late November.
• On August 14th Alice Hershey crossed JFK Boulevard at 17th St on a red signal and was struck by an SUV. Although Hershey was wearing a helmet, the collision resulted in a traumatic brain injury and she remains in a coma today.
• On October 2nd an unidentified woman was struck by a hit and run driver at 22nd and Market. She was left in extremely critical condition, no word on the outcome of the near fatal crash. The motorist fled but was quickly apprehended by SEPTA police. Police described the man as obviously intoxicated and incoherent. It is believed that DUI charges were filed.
• Early in the morning on Thanksgiving Rachel Fletcher was run off the road by a motorist at 23rd and Locust. The anti bike sentiment of November and December along with the responding Police officers perceived lukewarm response prompted anger from the Bicycle Messenger Community. More than 100 cyclists showed up at rally at JFK Plaza in support.

The Bicycle Coalition offers their sympathies to the families of victims killed or maimed byroad violence and advocates for a Vision Zero policy with the goal of zero traffic fatalities. On May 19th we will be hosting the Ride of Silence to honor those who have lost their lives.