PBA Impact Report 2025

Our big wins of 2025!

Infrastructure

City Hall bike lane (Penn Square)

When we heard that PennDOT had proposed a bike lane around City Hall that hinged upon the passage of City Council legislation before a summer deadline, we mobilized in the 11th hour to save the project - and won!

• Launched a petition with 1300 signatures!
• Earned media coverage exposing the potential missed opportunity.
• Successfully moved Mayor Cherelle Parker to issue a supportive transmission to City Council.
• Successfully organized a phone blitz to encourage Councilmember Jay Young to introduce the legislation at the last minute.
• The bike lane was installed Fall 2025. We graded the infrastructure in a Report Card.

3rd St bike lane (South to Market)

We saw potential for a separated bike lane on S 3rd street and make it a reality start to finish! Read the campaign recap.

• In 2024, we led discussions with neighbors associations to support our design proposal which led Councilmember Mark Squilla to pass legislation for the project.
• Over the next year, we organized a huge amount of stakeholder engagement to maintain support for the project including a petition with nearly 1,000 signatures and huge turnout to OTIS public house and parking regulation hearings.
• The bike lane was finally installed in May 2026.

23rd St bike lane (Race to Market)

We tracked this project closely and engaged with Logan Square Neighbors Association to demonstrate community support! Came in handy when SRT closure happened in October 2025!

47th St (Chestnut to Kingsessing)

We worked to make sure a parking seperated bike lane was installed when the street was up for repaving.

• We delivered our petition of 500 signatures to Councilmember Jamie Gauthier in 2024.
• We mobilized local members to defeat NIMBY opposition by demonstrating broad community support.
• The bike lane was installed in 2025 and we took Councilmember Gauthier on a celebration bike ride!

LeCount St direction reversal

After a string of right hook crashes in the South St bike lane in the same week, we joined forces with local residents to reverse the direction of their side street traffic.

• We responded to desperate call for help from residents after a string of serious crashes.
• We initiated direct action to protect the intersection with traffic cones every morning during rush hour.
• Our engagement brought serious media attention and led to a legislative solution from Council President Kenyatta Johnson's office within the week.
• We even received a recognition certificate from House Rep. Ben Waxman for our actions!

Vine Street Safety Improvement Project

We mobilized participation in PennDOT's community feedback calls and successfully convinced them to move the bike lanes on 10th and 13th crossing Vine against the curb instead of between the travel and turn lane! PBA also successfully advocated for the addition of a westbound bike lane on Vine St from 9th to 13th St.

Ongoing fight for concrete protection on Spruce and Pine

In response to one of our petition demands in the wake of Dr. Barbara Friedes' death in 2024, the City proposed plans to add concrete curb seperation to the Spruce and Pine bike lanes. Over the course of 2025, we:

• Wrote an op-ed for the Inquirer "Concrete barriers are the only way to really protect cyclists in the Spruce and Pine bike lanes.
• Joined the City's Stakeholder Working Group to input on plans for bike lane improvements.
• Distributed a run of window posters for bike lane supporters.
• Won a budget commitment of $5 million dollars for concrete protection for Spruce and Pine St in the FY2026 Budget
• Delivered over 650 postcards in support of bike lane protection to Council President Johnson and Councilmember Squilla.
• Defended the Loading Zone regulations at a public hearing
• Held a second huge protest ride for safer streets!

Policy

“No Stopping” (aka “Get Out the Bike Lane”) Bill

In response to one of our petition demands in the wake of Dr. Barbara Friedes' death, Council President Kenyatta Johnson passed legislation banning stopping cars, for any reason for any amount of time, in all bike lanes citywide. A huge victory!

Loading Zone Authorization Bill

Successfully supported the passage of legislation that officially authorizes the authority to install Loading Zones in Center City in response to a lawsuit filed by bike lane opponents.

Won Vision Zero funding increase to $5 million!

After a drop in Vision Zero funding the previous year, we launched a huge campaign to win $5 million for Vision Zero in the FY2026 Capital Budget.

• We launched a petition with 800 signatures
• We testified at the City Council hearing on Vision Zero
• We turned out and commented at budget hearings and town halls
• We pulled off a giant billboard on wheels outside of City Hall!
• In the end, we won an increase in funding from $3.5m to $5m!
• Plus, Mayor Parker committed an additional $5m for Spruce & Pine funding.

Partnership

Launched our Laser Vision app

Our tool makes it possible to report mobility access violations (like bike lane, sidewalk, and curb cut parking) to PPA in under 30 seconds.

• Laser Vision was developed entirely in-house by PBA by PBA Tech Officer, Ee Durbin and launched in July 2025.
• Earned an incredible amount of media coverage.
• In December 2025, PPA created a custom API that helps PBA connect more directly into to their system.
• By the end of 2025, Laser Vision had over 16,000 reports and over 1,000 unique users!

Fundraiser for Black Girl Joy Bike Ride

We were proud to host a fundraiser to purchase bicycles for members of local group Black Girl Joy Bike Ride. We raised enough to purchase seven bikes for black women riders!

Internal

• Successfully held our first democratic election for 2025 Board of Directors
• Published our first Strategic Plan document
• Completed 68 PBA Projects 13 bike lane clean ups and 26 community events.