Philly Bike Action Calls for Concrete Next Steps

August 30, 2024 | Philly Bike Action Calls for Concrete Next Steps

Today Mayor Parker announced her administration’s response to the 6,000 petition signatures calling for concrete protection on Spruce, Pine, and Allegheny. In addition to the Mayor’s vocal support for Vision Zero initiative, we are encouraged to hear that protecting the Spruce and Pine bike lanes and introducing ‘No Stopping’ regulation is a goal of the administration. However, the City also announced that no action would be taken until “community engagement” can begin on both issues starting in the fall.

In her speech, Mayor Parker said, leadership requires “tough decisions”–even when those decisions “may please some and not please others”. While we support the need for elected officials to hear from allconstituent voices, we must ensure that any community input strengthens, not weakens or delays, the implementation of necessary safety measures. 

We agree with Mayor Parker that the City needs to implement “data-proven methods” to address the issue of street safety. Complete Street principles like protected bike lanes are proven to reduce traffic injury and death for all street users, and we believe it is the responsibility of City Leaders to implement those practices with the urgency the epidemic of traffic violence demands.

Mayor Parker correctly pointed out that all communities in Philadelphia deserve safety  and highlighted that people of color, older adults, and low-income Philadelphians are most likely to be the victims of traffic violence. However, the Mayor did not address the demand for protection on Allegheny Ave where Christoper Cabrera was killed the same night as Dr. Barbara Friedes. 

While we are encouraged by the Mayor’s supportive remarks, we expect immediate action: release the plan for concrete protection and introduce emergency legislation when City Council resumes next week.
Philly Bike Action will lead a ride on Thursday, September 5 starting at 8:30 AM at the Art Museum. We will ride to City Hall, where we will hold a short rally before delivering public testimony during the City Council Stated Meeting. Please RSVP for the ride.