The Bike Lane Parties
Campaign Recap:
Withdraw the Bike Lane Parking Permits on Spruce and Pine St Campaign
View the campaign.
Overview
For many years, the City issued incorrectly applied "Equipment Placement" permits to religious institution in Center City that allow their members to use the bike lanes on Spruce and Pine Streets as a parking lot on weekends.
This arrangement rendered the bike lanes unusable to the 50,000 rides that use the bike lanes monthly and posed a significant safety risk to those biking.
In 2023, Philly Bike Action leadership reached out to seven religious institutions requesting that they withdraw the permits. Philly Bike Action held monthly "Sunday Slow Rides" to bring attention to the safety issue.
By January 2024, three houses of worship withdrew their permits – Old Saint Joseph’s, St. Peter’s Episcopal, and Philadelphia Ethical Society.
In April, PBA started “bike lane parties” on Sunday mornings in front of one of the remaining institutions, Tenth Presbyterian, to protect the bike lane and raise awareness about this dangerous practice.
The parties continued into August while negotiations with Tenth Presbyterian and outreach to other congregations continued.
From May to July, PBA met with leadership at Tenth Presbyterian and helped the Church find alternative parking. Old Pine Presbyterian Church removed Pine Street from their permit in July 2024.
In August 2024, after the nearby death of Dr. Barbara Friedes at 18th and Spruce, our parties transformed into a "Protect the Bike Lane" direct action. Outraged community members joined us in protected all six blocks of Spruce and Pine from parking.
Feeling public pressure, Tenth Presbyterian Church finally removed all six blocks of Spruce and Pine from their permit, followed by Society Hill Synagogue and Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel. A complete victory.
Campaign Timeline
August 26, 2024 Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel removes Spruce Street from their permit. No religious institutions on Spruce or Pine have a permit that allows congregants to park in the bike lane. PBA's statement here.
August 16, 2024 CBS Philly airs segment on investigation into the legitimacy of bike lane parking permits used by houses of worship.
August 14, 2024 Society Hill Synagogue announces that they have requested and received approval from the city for a parking permit that does not include the Spruce Street bike lane.
August 7, 2024 Tenth Presbyterian Church announces they have removed Spruce and Pine Street from the permit (all 6 blocks).
August 5, 2024 PBA shares its research and findings with investigative reporter Liz Crawford from CBS Philly, who pursues the story. PBA lays out the case in detail why these permits seem illegitimate. In short, Tenth Presbyterian has neither of the required licenses to hold their equipment placement permit, they do not apply via the required process for the permit, the permit is misused per explicit prohibitions in the Philadelphia City Code pertaining to street closure permits, and they do not pay for the permit.
August 4, 2024 In response to public outcry for immediate safety improvements following Dr. Friedes' death on the 1800 block of Spruce Street, PBA organizers expanded the bike lane parties to Pine St, covering all six blocks of Tenth Presbyterian’s bike lane parking using both cones and human bodies to protect the bike lanes.
August 2, 2024 The City provides an affidavit in response to PBA’s appeal of the Right to Know Request response. In the affidavit, the city states that an “Open Records Officer for the Philadelphia Department of Streets, searched for the requested records both upon receiving the notice of appeal and RTKL request underlying this appeal. He searched in the City’s Eclipse database, where the records would be stored if they existed. He was unable to locate any of the requested applications or invoices.”
July 31, 2024 Old Pine Presbyterian Church removes Pine Street from their parking permit.
PBA meets with Tenth Presbyterian, Bicycle Coalition, Streets Department, and CCRA representatives at a second working group meeting. Tenth Presbyterian proposed a timed-permit with reduced hours on Spruce and Pine for bike lane parking that is limited to their busiest services at 9 am and 11 am (8:30 am to 1:30 pm). PBA presented their plan for parking alternatives that does not include Spruce and Pine and meets their ADA needs.
July 21, 2024 Following the death of Dr. Barbara Friedes on July 17, who was killed while biking in the Spruce St bike lane by a speeding vehicle, Philly Bike Action held a Vigil for Traffic Victims along with BCGP and 5th Square. WHYY coverage here. PBA's July 18 Statement here.
July 19, 2024 The City responds to the Right to Know Request with “no responsive records” except for the permits themselves. PBA files an appeal for more information.
July 8, 2024 First working group meeting with PBA, Tenth Presbyterian, and Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. PBA presents a set of alternatives to bike lane parking (PDF). Tenth and PBA agree to meet again to discuss specific non-bike lane parking alternatives, taking into account congregants with limited mobility.
May 31, 2024 PBA files right to know request based on research indicating these permits are seemingly being requested and issued outside the normal approval process. The requests asks for the applications, correspondence between the religious institutions requesting the permits and the Department of Streets regarding the permits, and any payment invoices related to the permits.
May 28, 2024 PBA met with the Board of Elders at Tenth Presbyterian and agreed to form a small working group composed of representatives from the Board of Elders, Philly Bike Action, and additional interested parties like the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, Center City Residents’ Association, and OTIS.
April 14, 2024 PBA's Bike Lane Parties are featured in a Philadelphia Inquirer article.
April 6, 2024 Philly Bike Action began hosting “bike lane parties”--non-confrontational protests to protect the bike lane on a stretch of Spruce and bring awareness about the danger caused by people parking cars in the bike lane–near Tenth Presbyterian Church. We chose Tenth Presbyterian because they requested the largest number of blocks with bike lanes in their permits (more than the three remaining institutions combined). During this time Philly Bike Action has continued a dialogue with Tenth Presbyterian and offered a range of potential alternatives to parking in the bike lane.
March 28, 2024 PBA launched an online petition requesting the withdrawal of permits that allow cars to park in the bike lane. Signatures and comments are directed to Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability (OTIS). In total, over 2,000 people signed.
Jan 15, 2024 Thanks to St. Joseph's Catholic Church for committing to not renewing the bike lane parking permit on Spruce Street.
Dec 1, 2023 PBA Op Ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer
Nov 21, 2023 Saint Peter's Episcopal confirmed that they won't be seeking renewal of their Pine St bike lane parking permit next year. They were previously using the 300 block of Pine St Sunday mornings 8 AM to 1 PM.
Sept 1, 2023 Philadelphia Ethical Society withdraws its permits. They were most likely in the process of doing this before PBA got involved. PBA sends Cheryl Desmondl a thank you letter.
July 9, 2023 PBA holds the first Sunday Slow Ride protest. Slow ride protests loop around Spruce and Pine between 20th and 16th St during morning service to draw attention to the issue every second Sunday of the month. The final Slow Ride Sunday Slow Rides happen on Oct 9, 2023, totalling 4.
PBA member creates informative reels on the permit details:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CyJ-l3uJzzk/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CygvjpaAQzw/?hl=en
Additional Reels of Bike Lane Parties:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C64N_INpZTy
