Get Active - Area Bicycle Pedestrian Groups
This list is by no means exhaustive, you can email me with any additions to this list.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia urges you to get involved
Volunteer Night - 2nd Tuesday Contact Alex Doty
Advocacy Committee - Contact Dennis Winters

Here is a list of Advocacy Committees and Groups
Chester County Cycling Committee: contact Brian Rothberg
Montgomery County Bicycling Committee: contact Bill Ruhling
Delaware County County Committee - Currently inactive: contact Parker Snowe
Trenton Cycling Revolution: Contact Lisa Kasabach
East Coast Greenway Alliance

Advisory Committees
Region
DVRPC Regional Citizens Committee

Pennsylvania
Southeast PA Bicycle Issues Task Force: Contact John Madera at DVRPC
Pennsylvania Pedestrian and Pedalcycle Advisory Committe PPAC: Contact Anita Everhard
Abington Trails Citizens Advisory Committee

New Jersey
Voorhees Bicycle and Pedestrian Pathway Committee: Call the Township at 856/429-7174
Princeton Township Bicycle and Sidewalk Advisory Committee
West Windsor Township Bicycle Pedestrian Task Force
NJ Bicycle Advisory Committee: contact Andrew Swords


Delaware
Delaware Bicycle Council
Wilmapco Non-Motorized Travel Working Group

Commuter Rail in a Parallel Universe

ACE Rail - Train Status: "
Train #3:Next train departs Stockton on Monday, December 1 at 4:15 AM.
Bike Capacity is 34. Electrical Outlets for Computers are available on 5 of 6 cars of this train set."

I should mention that all of these trains have Wi-Fi access.

There is a downside of course - these trains only run 3 round trips on weekdays only, still this region needs to invest in those types on amenities if we are to compete with other metro areas.

Greater Philadelphia Outdoor Survey

We all know that Philadelphia does not market their outdoor recreation resources to tourists, so the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation GPTMC is designing an outdoor marketing campaign to do just that and they need our help to do this. Therefore they request your participation in the Philadelphia Outdoor Survey.

Upon submission of your survey, you will automatically eligible to win the Grand Prize - a new Fuji 2004 Crosstown hybrid bicycle complete with aluminum framing, 21-speeds which is perfect for commuting, Sunday rides or tree-lined trails. They'll top if off with a Louis Garneau riding helmet and a tough Kryptonite U-lock.

Second Prize is a free, one-day Burley Zydeco tandem rental

Prizes are compliments of Trophy Bikes - Center City's premier, full-service bicycle shop. Winners must be 18 years or older
GPTMC website - GoPhila.com

Lance - Do you remember the Core States Championships?

You remember us right? We were at the Manayunk Wall ... no not the famous climb on Levering St; but along the wall of intoxicated "cycling fans" purging on Roxborough's Manayunk Ave. How could you forget us?

This is from lancearmstrong.com:

11/21 Here's a heads up for those in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area: Lance will be a part of the next President's Cancer Panel titled "Living Beyond Cancer: Meeting the Challenges of Older Adult Survivors" Monday, Jan 5, 2004 at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel. While Lance will be at the event throughout the day, we get word that the evening town hall session from 7-9 PM is one of the best times to check things out up close and personal. As always, more info as it's available.

CYT-Light turn signals Bicycle Survey

Wharton MBA student Roger Chi is working on starting up a new bicycle accessory company called Cyt-light. They have come up with a market research survey to help develop a better product.
The survey can be found at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=15057316376

Photo Essay of the Perkiomen Trail is now Online

It was a spectacular day for a grand opening in Green Lane Park. A large crowd turned out and the media was there to report it.

Without SEPTA coming anywhere close to the start point, getting to the trail was nearly as adventurous as riding the trail itself. Here was my itinerary
7:59 Leave House on bike
8:11 R7 Train from Holmesburg Jct to North Philadelphia
8:25 Bike North Philadelphia to North Broad St Station
8:35 R5 Train to Lansdale
9:10 Taxi Lansdale to Green Lane Park ($33 plus tip)
Opening Ceremony 10 am
12:30 - 2:57 Leisurely ride on trail
2:57 - Arrive at Trappe Rd and 29 parking lot Rahns
3:00 - SEPTA bus 91 to Norristown Transportation Center
3:52 - SEPTA R6 to Market East Station
4:45 - Market Frankford EL to Frankford Transportation Center
5:25 - SEPTA bus 20 to Holme and Convent NE Philly
5:50 - Arrive home

Article about the Perkiomen Trail that only appeared in the suburban edition of the paper

Project backers laud Perkiomen Trail's end
A celebration will mark the opening of the Perkiomen Trail, though some were left unhappy.
By Jeff Shields
Inquirer Staff Writer

Montgomery County's Perkiomen Trail will be celebrated tomorrow as a shining example of government efficiency and an important link in the economic, social and recreational development of Philadelphia's suburbs.

Upcoming Meetings

Room 418 - 4th Floor at Huntsman Hall - 38th and Walnut St.

Advocacy Meeting
5:30-6:30pm
Email Dennis Winters for details about this meeting.

Board Meeting
6:30 - 8:00 PM
Email Parker Snowe for details about this meeting

Perkiomen Trail Dedication

The Trail is Complete!

Please bring your family and friends to this festive celebration.
Enjoy the celebration! Saturday December 22 at 10 AM at the Snyder Road Parking Area. Walk, ride, and bike a part, or all of the 22 mile trail from Green Lane to Valley Forge National Historical Park. There will be food, music, t-shirts, and a chance to win a brand new Trek bicycle, donated by Bikesport.

Rails to Trails Conservancy President Keith Laughlin will be the guest speaker.

Details:
http://www.montcopa.org/parks/perkiomentrail/Pdfs/invite-final.pdf

Ben Franklin Bridge Update

The Pedestrian Footwalk closure time will be moved
earlier (from the current 7pm) to a 6:00pm daily closure effective Dec.
1, 2003. The closure time will remain at 6:00pm until Spring 2004

Washington Post: Bike Sales Up, Bicycling Down

A quote in today's Washington Post say's it all "It's not like when we were kids, when you'd just take off and go two miles to the store or wherever," Tom Diamond said. "Those days are gone."

Brain Drain Revisited

A new census report shows the Philadelphia leads the nation's largest metro areas for losing the "creative class" - College Graduates aged 25-39. Philadelphia had an outmigration rate of 17% nearly double of the second lowest metro area - Detroit

Robert Lang, demographer with the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech University tells the Digital Collegian (State College) "The reason for movement to cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco is the quality of life and the fact that there are fun things to do more than anything else. As a college student, would you rather live in San Francisco and Los Angeles, or Philadelphia and Cleveland?"

Philadelphia wins for worst performance - best potential, Florida states in an interview about his book The Rise of the Creative Class" "Whereas companies---or sports teams, for that matter---that get financial incentives can pull up and leave at virtually a moment's notice, investments in amenities like urban parks, for example, last for generations. Other amenities---like bike lanes or off-road trails for running, cycling, rollerblading, or just walking your dog---benefit a wide swath of the population. "

Lets see, we have a 45 mile continuous path that starts at Locust St and goes to Green Lane Reservoir, 170 miles of bike lanes, the Fairmount Park system, the nations 3rd largest downtown and revitalized University City, a sizable transit system what gives?

Wage tax, urban blight, an underfunded park system, connecting multi-use paths on hold, pay to play, massive sprawl, parking garage building frenzy, SEPTA, parochialism, City Hall H-2's, Love Park.

Cochlear Implants vs Bike Lanes?

It seems that in just about any subject there are different views of thinking on how we go about achieving certain goals. My favorite parallel to the bike lane debate is the deaf community's debate on cochlear implants. One position statement in particular caught my eye

The AAD (Australian Association for the Deaf) believes that the large sums of money financing cochlear implants could be better used to improve education and literacy among deaf and hearing-impaired people

Change "cochlear implants" to "bike lanes" and "deaf and hearing-impaired people" to cyclists and you will get a viewpoint that many vehicular cyclists share.

This article has no point, its just interesting to see how people align on two issues that are so incredibly different.

Juxtaposing Positions?

Anyone who is familiar with the League of American bicycles knows that bicycle facilities are an infinite hot potato. Because bicycles are at the bottom of the transportation food chain, good data on the dangers and/or benefits of bicycle facilities are hard to come by. Are cyclists in Portland OR more likely to be involved in a crash because Portland has more bike lanes than Wichita?

Someone once said that a camel is a horse built by consensus and nothing defines division within a group better than a murky position statement.

My best grasp on LAB's position: We'll live with some bike facilities even though they are inherently dangerous. Could we be a little more positive here?

Here is the BCGP Bike Lane position

My name is John Boyle ... and I like bike lanes. Please don't hate me.

Newsday.com - New name and start date for southern light rail

Service will begin on the newly coronated "River Line" on February 15.
These trains will have bike racks holding 4 bikes per train, no rush hour restrictions.

What Bike Lane Striping Contract?

An email from the PennDOT project manager wrote to me with this correction "I would like to clarify that the Department is not installing exclusive bike lanes. The Department is looking to provide wider shoulders so cars and bicycles can 'Share the Road'."

Huh?

This was clearly not the intention of the project, as indicated in the minutes of the Southeast Pennsyslvania Bicycle Issues Task Force meeting minutes on 7-19-01 (item #2)

In fact it sounds more like a local directive of PENNDOT 6-0 in late 1997. At the urging of the SEPABITF roads Penndot supposedly adopted a policy to stripe the fog line (white edgeline) 11 ft from the centerline which would in effect create small shoulders on wider roads.

DVRPC asked PennDOT if they could stripe bike lanes as a part of this process when there was sufficient width, the reply was that extra engineering work was not included in the maintenance budget. So money ($300,000?) was found elsewhere in the regional transportation budget (The TIP) and added for the bike lane striping contract.

Penndot widening shoulders to accommodate bikes is a good thing, but for 300K we should be getting our money's worth. How do we measure the results? Bike lanes built to standards are easy to quantify, measuring shoulder width improvements are not. In order to measure success PennDOT would need to diligently keep track of every shoulder improvement.

PennDOT 6-0 already has more bike lanes on its state roads than any other district on the east coast; nearly one half of the 170 miles of bike lanes in Philadelphia are located on state roads.

PENNDOT Bike Lane Striping Contract

Late last fall PENNDOT let a contract for an engineer to study the feasibility and design of bike lanes on state roads throughout the 4 suburban counties as part of PENNDOT's surface treatment program (road resurfacing). PENNDOT schedules 10% of all state roads to be resurfaced and brought up to modern standards. So in theory a regionwide network of bike lanes could be in place in about 10 years. Philadelphia already installs bike lanes on roads with sufficient width.

As this paving season comes to a close little progress has been seen. We do know that a short stretch of bike lanes have been installed on South Gulph Road in Upper Merion Township as part of the US 202 Project. The BCGP has been told by PENNDOT that the surface treatment program has been scaled back due to the costs of last winter's snowstorms.

The importance of this program cannot be understated, PENNDOT maintain 3,600 miles of roads in this region. If bike lanes are striped on just 25% of the state roads that would equal nearly 100 miles of new bike lanes a year. This money would come out PENNDOT regular maintenance budget. A regional bike friendly road network could be completed without competing for scarce transportation enhancements funds.

Traffic Planning and Design (TDP) is the contractor as part of the district 6-0 highway occupancy permit contract.

If you know of a state road that has been resurfaced with or without bike lanes this year let us know. Link to District 6-0 paving program

Route 41/Lancaster Pike Safety Improvements Public Information Workshop Scheduled

Hockessin -- The Department of Transportation is holding a Public Information Meeting to present facts and solicit public comment regarding safety improvements on Route 41/Lancaster Pike. The workshop will be on Monday November 10th, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Downstairs Conference Room of the Hockessin Fire Department, at the intersection of Route 41 and Yorklyn Road, in Hockessin.

This project will consist of safety improvements along the Route 41 corridor in the Hockessin area. The project limits are 1,000 feet north of Mitchell Road to the Pennsylvania State Line. Proposed improvements include a traffic signal at the intersection of Route 41 and Valley Road, modifications to the intersection of Route 41 and Yorklyn Road, channelization islands for left turn lanes and the addition of a continuous center turn lane. The project also proposes to add pedestrian improvements such as sidewalks and crosswalks, as well as pavement resurfacing to the Pennsylvania line.

Interested persons are invited to express their views in writing, giving reasons for support of, or in opposition to, the proposed project. Comments will be received during the workshop or can be mailed to DelDOT Public Relations, P.O. Box 778, Dover, DE 19903. The above location is accessible to persons having disabilities. Any person having special needs or requiring special aid, such as an interpreter for the hearing impaired, is requested to contact DelDOT by phone or mail one week in advance.

For further information contact the DelDOT Public Relations at 1-800-652-5600 (in DE) or 302-760-2080 or write to the above address."

Pennypack Park Bike Count

Today with temps in the 70's I rode 6 miles of the Pennypack Park Bikeway. In the 44 minutes it took me to ride from Pine Rd to Lexington Park I counted 61 bicyclists on the trail. The largest concentration (20) was the mile stretch between the Fox Chase Farm on Pine Rd and Verree Rd.

Are School Buses Raising Raising Your Taxes? Try Safe Routes to Schools

While the trend towards safe routes to schools takes hold in other parts of the country, its "School Sprawl" as usual in Bucks County as the new Central Bucks South High School nears completion.

The design and location of this and just about every other school built in the last 30 years forces everyone to ride the bus or driven to school instead of walking and cycling. The massive transportation costs to get kids to school vs the health benefits of walking and bicycling to school should be enough for us to rethink the way we design them.

The National Center for Bicycling and Walking has outlined 6 goals for our schools in a vision of a bicycle-friendly, walkable community

They are:

1. Location: Build schools within walking distance of the student population.
2. Access: Make it easy and safe for students to walk and bike to school.
3. Site Design: Choose and develop bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly school sites.
4. Control Cars: Strictly control motor vehicles on and near school grounds, at bus stops, and along routes traveled by students to school.
5. Encouragement: Encourage children to bike and walk to school.
6. Community Center: Plan and manage schools as multipurpose community centers.

PennDOT for its part is requiring that Bristol Road be widened for the project to handle the increased traffic.

Click on this link to find out more about School Sprawl

Hey we just spent $290 million on Route 202 ... But you should really take the bus: Mixed messages from PENNDOT and local politicians as US 202 section 400 is now complete. Meanwhile PENNDOT is discontinuing funding for congestion mitigation strategies such as expanded bus service. Planners now say US 202 should be free flowing until 2015, or at least until the next wave of new big box stores, business parks and condos gobble up the remaining open space.

The US 202 reconstruction has provided some modest improvements for bikes, the Conrail bridge; a pinch point at South Gulph Road has been replaced with a wider underpass with bike lanes. A new bike/ped bridge over I-76 near Bill Smith Rd. will serve the future Chester Valley Trail.

Future construction on US 202 will be designed with bike lanes from Norristown to Welsh Rd. A new 9 mile paved multi-use trail will be constructed in the right of way of US 202 between Welsh Rd and Doylestown.

Still the overall effect of new highway capacity will be negative on transit, bicycling and walking. Without sound land use policies and a healthy communities strategy our auto dependent suburbs will find little incentive to abandon an entrenched sedentary lifestyle.