Cyclegram Jul-Aug 2007

8/16/2019 Cyclegram Jul-Aug 2007

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Promoting the bicycle as anenvironmentally friendly,healthy and economical

form of transportation andrecreation through

advocacy and education.

• Philly Cycling Committee

Rocks!

• Big Win on Schuylkill River

Park and Trail!

• Report on the 2007 Annual

Meeting

• AMTRAK Folding Bike

Policy Loophole Closed

• Calling About Potholes

• Annual Meeting Photos

"Effective May 15, 2007, Pennsylvania

Department of Transportation policy requires

the evaluation of the access and mobility needs

of pedestrian and bicycle users in highway and

bridge transportation corridors. This revised

policy mandates that highway and bridge pro- jects must evaluation the existing, latent, and

projected needs of pedestrian and bicycle us-

ers. It requires the integration of the identified

needs into project planning and design proc-

esses."

So begins PennDOT's Strike-off Letter SOL432-0702, a huge step forward for the mobilityrights of Pennsylvania's bicyclists and pedestri-ans. Since most roads and bridges are stateowned, this policy will have a major impact.

Titled Integration of Pedestrian and Bicy- cle Modes of Transportation into Planning and Design Processes , it makes specificchanges to PennDOT policies, processes, anddesign manuals, all "… to bolster the impor-tance of pedestrians and bicycle travel as viableand connective modes of transportation…" It is based on a detailed Bicycle and PedestrianChecklist , and is consistent with and supportiveof a variety of state and federal transportationinitiatives and legislation.

It was initiated and formally requested by

the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia in November 2005. And it is interesting to notethat it only took 18 months to become statewide

policy, a very positive reflection on the culturalchanges occurring within PennDOT and else-where. You can download SOL 432-0702 fromour website www.bicyclecoalition.org.

PennDOT regional district 6 office(covering Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgom-ery, and Philadelphia counties) has alreadymodified their processes and are implementingthe new policy.

One more tool for Making Bicycling Bet-

ter.

It was standing room only for some at thePhilly Cycling Committee meeting June19. Nineteen attended—a record, we’re sure!

On the agenda were: Adopt a Rack, theCity’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, Cab DriverEducation, a possible bike share program, pave-

(Continued on page 8)

Philly Cycling Committee Rocks!

Reorganized Committee Experiences Record Attendance!

By Claudia Crane, Board Member & Treasurer

The President’s Spin…

Making Bicycling BetterBy Hans van Naerssen

TRANSPORTATION

MISCELLANY

• A pedestrian is almost 20times as likely to be killed

by a vehicle going 50 mphthan one going 20 mph.

• Your chances of beingkilled in a crash with avehicle double with anincrease in speed from 30mph to 40 mph.

• Our investment in onesquare meter of the Inter-state Highway system =$154.00.

JULY-AUG 2007

CycleGram

BICYCLE COALIT ION OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA

100 SOUTH BROAD ST SUITE 1355

PH IL AD ELP HIA , PA 19 11 0- 10 23

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:


2/8

JUL Y-AUG 2007PAG E 2

Big Win on Schuylkill River Park

After four years of action alerts,emails, faxes, “blocked-access” com-

plaint forms, rallies, hearings and online petitions, Free Schuylkill River Park’scampaign scored the ultimate victory.On April 24, 2007, Mayor John F.Street and CSX’s William Goetz sattogether on a podium next to theSchuylkill River Park Trail on Schuyl-kill Banks to sign a settlement agree-ment that keeps the two crossings atRace and Locust open and safe for parkusers.

This agreement embodies the posi-tion taken by Free Schuylkill River

Park, the Bicycle Coalition of GreaterPhiladelphia and many other organiza-tions and individuals that street level

access into the Parkhad to be preserved

and made safe forall park users.

This campaigndemonstrated thatwhen citizen voicesare mobilized effec-tively, they can con-vince elected offi-cials, governmentagencies and even amulti-billion dollarcorporation that itwas in everyone’s

best interest to finda mutually agreeablesolution that met the needs of both the

community and therailroad. Thou-sands of park usersand neighborsstepped up and tookaction wheneverthey were called byFree SchuylkillRiver Park to drivethat message home.

This agreement setsa national precedentfor how freightlines can co-existwithin urban com-

munities and sets an example for othercities and towns that are seeking to re-claim their waterfronts. It also provesthat transportation infrastructure is ca- pable of adapting itself to becomewoven into the fabric of revitalizingurban communities.

The highlights of the CSX-City ofPhiladelphia Settlement Agreement are:

• Within two years, the crossings atRace and Locust Street will be improved with fencing and gates thatwill permit park users to cross thetracks when no train is approachingor parked. If trains are parked near,


by Sarah Clark-Stuart, Vice-President

Improved CSX crossing at foot of Locust Street makes it easier for all

trail users.

New track crossings make bicycling safer.

It was quite a gathering. One had been arrested; one was an ‘insider’. Thelong term leader was there, as was thestrategist.

A mafia gathering? No. They were bicycle activists, making a difference.Those of us who braved the nor’easterand attended the Bicycle Coalition’sannual meeting enjoyed a fascinatingglimpse some of the styles and actions

needed to make bicycling better.

The “criminal”? Former CoalitionPresident Noel Weyrich. As Noel was presenting the Coalition’s annual Bicy-clist Champion Award, he related a fewstories from the heady ‘90s, actions thatmade a major difference for bicyclists.

How? By conducting “criminal mis-chief” and cutting chain link fencing

when bicyclist / pedestrian facilities hadnot been included a key bridge. By be-ing a knowledgeable and forceful atmeetings, so much so that his presencewas a consternation to many, but greatfor us.

The “insider”? Tom Branigan, re-cipient of the Bicyclist ChampionAward. For many many years while


Report from the Annual DinnerCyclists Making a Difference

By Hans van Naerssen

Photos by author


3/8

but not on the crossings, gates will reopen to permitcrossing the tracks until the train moves again.

• An overpass will be constructed south of Locust Street

to connect the next segment of the trail to the SchuylkillRiver Park at 25th and Spruce Street within 30 months(The exact location and design is to be determined).

• A segment of track will be built in the vicinity of 32ndand Thompson Street to facilitate faster movement oftrains through the City.

• Once this segment is constructed by CSX, garbage trainswill no longer park on tracks next to the Park or withinthe City’s municipal boundaries.

In late June, CSX installed rubber flange filler in between

each sets of tracks at both crossings in response to FreeSchuylkill River Park’s request that the crossings be madesmoother for wheeled users. This is a welcome and long

(Continued from page 2)

Newly installed rubber flange fil ler at Race Street entrance to Schuylkil l

River Park and Trail

Philadelphia City to Suburb com-muter Dave Torok planned to take hisfolding bike on Amtrak's Keystone ser-vice to get to his workplace inMalvern PA. He occasionally did this onSEPTA Regional Rail but he foundthat the door-to-door trip was a mind

numbing 90 minute commute. Howeverhe found out that using Amtrak's fasterservice would take virtually the sameamount of time as driving; about 60minutes. He planned to do the multi-mode commute at least three times aweek, reducing his gas usage, replacingaggravation on the Schuylkill Express-way with an exhilarating bike ride, and promoting transit.

Amtrak Keystone does not allow fullsize bicycles so he bought a folding bicycle expressly to enable this com-

mute. Amtrak's website specifiesthat folding bicycles are allowed on"certain rail cars" although it fails tomention any specifics.

The inaugural morning trip workedwell, a very pleasant Amtrak traincrew had no problems with his folding bike on the AM Keystone Train out toPaoli even helping hold the door at the bottom of the staircase at 30th

Station in Philadelphia. However on theway back in the evening, he wasDENIED boarding, with the conductorgiving him at least 5 differentreasons why you cannot bring a folding b i k e o n b o a r d d e s p i t e t h e i r posted policy.

Dave followed up with the Station Man-ager at 30th Street Station whosaid that he talked to the rail managerand also to a higher-up boss,that they looked through the "ConductorService Rule Book", and saidthat folding bikes are not permitted onthe Amfleet cars used on theKeystone Line.

Puzzled because he got an answer toa question that he didn't ask hesent a letter to Amtrak CEO Kummant

and filed a Freedom of InformationAct (FOIA) request to see if they haveany public information regardingfolding bikes. He also joined the BicycleCoalition of Greater Philadelphia whosent their own letter to customer serviceBCGP asked that Amtrak work to clarifytheir folding bike policy.

Customer Service sent a response toB C G P w h i c h s t a t e d t h a t

folding bikes are permitted on ALLtrains and that they would look intothe wording of the bicycle policy. How-ever there was no indication thatAmtrak would deal with the conductor.

Dave tried to take the train again. He

showed the email to the conductorstating the policy allowed for folding b i k e s o n a l l t r a i n s . T h econductor maintained that folding bikesare not allowed at all, according to the"Conductor Service Rule Book," andthat no policy or email would grant himaccess to that train. It looked like ourefforts at Amtrak had failed. Meanwhilecustomers who were using other trainshad no problems bringing on a folding bike.

Dave continued to take his folding

bike on the Amtrak train in the morningwith the friendly crew and take SEPTAin the evening while waiting for somenew information to arrive.

After more than a month, a corporatespokesperson replied to the lettersent to Mr. Kummant that repeated thevaguely-worded policy from the website. Nor did the letter clarify the defini-


How One Bicyclist Closed AMTRAK’s Folding Bike Policy Loophole

By John Boyle, Director of Advocacy

CYCLEGRA M PAG E 3


4/8

THE CYCLEGRAMDennis R. Winters, Editor

Editorial Assistance: John Boyle, Alex Doty, Hans van Naerssen &

Jill Gefvert-Minick

Editorial offices: 100 S. Broad Street, Suite 1355, Philadelphia, PA 19102

The CycleGram, Jun-Jul 2006 © BCGPReproduction permitted. Proper citation appreciated.

LOCATIONAGENCY & CONTACT INFO:

City StreetStreets Department

Customer Affairs UnitPhone: (215) 686-5560, *FIX (cell phones)Email: [email protected]: http://www.phila.gov/streets

State HighwayPennDOTMaintenance HotlinePhone: 1-800-FIX-ROAD (349-7623)

SEPTA Trolley Track Area (Inside tracks and18" on either side)

Customer ServicePhone: (215) 580-7852Web: http://www.septa.org

WHO DO I CALL

ABOUT POTHOLES?

These numbers are good for reporting pothole, cave-ins (sinkholes),and ditches/utility cuts.

After reporting the road hazard,monitor to see if repair is performed. Ifnot, contact the Coalition at 215-BICYCLE.

employed by the City of PhiladelphiaStreets Department, he has been on theinside, promoting and pushing to get bike lanes, bike racks, and facilities. Asthe scope of his responsibilities in-creased, so did the scope of his positiveinfluence on bicyclist facilities. A welldeserved award. Unfortunately he isretiring. We will miss him.

The long term leader? Dennis Win-ters has been the president of the Bicy-cle Coalition for ten years, and receivedspecial recognition for providing direc-tion and leadership during both the1990’s and this decade. Fortunately he

remains on the board, now as secretary.

The strategist was Randy Neufeld,who led the evolution of the ChicagoBicycle Federation into a major and oneof the most successful regional bicycleadvocacy organizations in the USA. Hiskeynote speech, euphemistically titled“How Chicago is Catching Up to Phila-delphia”, was a fascinating look intohow the growth and success was ac-complished, from a cash strapped un-derstaffed organization to one wherethe city is paying them to provide bicy-cling advice, where they have a staff of33, where they are a major participantand shaper of bicycling strategy for thewhole Chicago region.

There were 30 other individualswhose actions made a difference for bicyclists in 2006, whose contributionswere recognized as well.

As incoming President, it was aninteresting glimpse into our past suc-cesses and challenges, and what thefuture might bring. And it was confir-mation that our current short term strat-egy of establishing BikePhilly as a major fund raiser is correct.

I hope you will continue to help usMake a Difference


tion of "certain passenger cars" but hisoffice did forward the response to the30th Street manager.

The FOIA request for the conduc-tor's rule book was also slow to arrive.The request was granted after two fullmonths of occasional status emails but no actual policy information. Fi-nally on May 7 Dave received the

FOIA documentation which includedan attached excerpt of the Service RuleBook via email. The Rule Book con-

firmed that bicycles were prohibited in passenger cars, but it had no referenceto folding bicycles at all.

A second file was attached. It was a policy change update effective May 42007 that allowed folding bikes on- board all trains and was to be insertedinto the service rule book. This simplec h a n g e g a v e c y c l i s t sthe clout on to bring their folding bikeonto any Amtrak train in the country

without the fear of being stranded overa technicality.

That same afternoon he received the policy update email Dave already hadhis folding bike at work. He broughthis bike to the Paoli platform,service update printout in hand, with alittle tension as to what might happen.

The same conductor who had de-nied boarding twice was there, but thistime he simply allowed him to board,saying that he had received the policyupdate that morning.




5/8

Coalition Photo Scrapbook: 2007 Annual Dinner at International House

Chicagoland Bicycle Federation’s Randy

Neufeld—this year’s Keynote Speaker.

Annual Award Recipient Tom Branigan

and son, David.

Cyclist Champion of the Year AwardRecipient, Tom Branigan.

Bicycle Coalition Executive Director,Alex Doty emcee’s the Annual Dinner

festivities.

Past Coalition President Noel Weyrich de-

scribes cycling activism in the ‘90s and pre-sented Cyclist Champion of the Year Awardto retired Street Department engineer, Tom

Branigan.

JOIN TODAY!

Yes, I want to help make our region the best for bicycling! Please enroll me as a member.

Name ________________________________________________Address __________________________________________________

City ____________________________ State _______ Zip Code ____________Phone ___________________Fax __________________

E-mail ___________________________________________________

I'd like to contribute:

_____$200 _____$100 _____$75 _____$50 _____$35 _____$ Other

_____ Check enclosed MasterCard/Visa #_______________________________________ Expiration date ____________Signature ___________________________________________

Membership includes a subscription to our Cyclegram newsletter, invitations to special events, access to cycling list serves, and

e-mail action alerts!

Please return to:

Bicycle Coalition, 100 S. Broad Street, Suite 1355, Philadelphia, PA 19110-1023

If paying by charge card, you can also fax to: (267) 514-2324

CYCLEGRA M PAG E 5

Photos by Dennis Winters


6/8


The problems of bike parking at theUniversity of Pennsylvania (the Block-ley Hall building) and the PhiladelphiaVeterans Administration Medical Cen-ter are two-fold; poorly designed bikeracks and not enough of them! I com-mute to work at both.

So why should they (Penn and PhilaVA administrators/leadership) care?Essentially, the status quo actively dis-courages people (employees, trainees, patients) from commuting or visiting by

bike. Both centers subsidize or facili-tate car parking to some degree (pre-taxaccount at Penn; free parking at VA forstaff, though it fills up early).

Increasing bike traffic would de-crease car traffic in/around the facili-ties/campus, reduce parking congestion,improve peoples perception of theircommute by biking rather than drivingor riding public transportation(according to a British Columbia surveystudy), improve the health of the com-

muters/visitors, decrease energy useand greenhouse gas production, andimprove the ambience/vibe of the area.

At the VA there are three of the old-style racks with vertical bars designedduring a time when the quaintnotion was that you wouldnose only your front wheelinto the slot, and not use a U-style lock for the frame.Even without quick-releasewheels, bikes on these areeasy pickings for thieves, andif your bike falls over yourwheel bends in half! Most people put their front wheelover the rack, which is cum- bersome and scratches the bike, but works for manymountain-style bikes withoutfenders.

I discussed the issue withthe people responsible for

“Facilities” (someof whom were also b i k e r s ) , w hoagreed that moreand better rackswere needed. Weare now planningfor 15 “invertedU” style racks(parking for 30 bikes). Most will be placed near themain entrance

(vehicle turn-around area just upfrom the securitycheck-point) underthe building overhand. The first partialdeliver is expected in the next 1-2weeks with the rest to follow shortlythere after.

While Penn actually has manyracks, most are of the vertical bar type(described above). At Blockley Hallwhere I work, there is an acute shortage

every day…I often end up locking to asignpost or tree. Others take bikes in-side buildings. I’ve brought this issueto the attention of those in charge of thecampus layout/structures, and they werevery receptive, acknowledging that this

is a problem in many places on campus.While the discussion was encouraging,I don’t yet have specific plans to report.

I started a Yahoo Group called Phil-abike to share ideas about commuting, parking, and other local bike issues,focusing on Penn and the VA (thoughdiscussion of other areas welcome…see

URL below). Come post pictures,check out links, and share yourthoughts and ideas!

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/ philabike/

Darren Linkin’s “ride” tethered on Penn Campus

Bike Parking at the University of Pennsylvania and the

Philadelphia Veterans AdministrationBy Darren Linkin, Philadelphia Cycling Committee member

Example of inadequate bike parking

Photos by author


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CYCLEGRA M PAG E 7

Photos from Bike Freedom Valley 2007

P h o t o b y M i k e M c G e t t i g a n

P h o t o b y M i k e M c G e t t i g a n

Photo by Sarah Clark-Stewart

Photo by Sarah Clark-Stewart

Thanks to the 775

riders of BikeFreedom Valley!


8/8

ment issues...and the planned new South

Street Bridge replacement. Gihon Jordon led the discussion of the

Bridge. Gihon, a current board member,and former President of the Bike Coalition,was a Center City traffic engineer for 15years. Jordan retired from the Streets De- partment in 2004. Self described as a“hopeless transportation wonk,” Gihonsummed up what’s wrong with the current bridge plan (consistent with the BicycleCoalition’s position on the Bridge):

• The turning Radius on to the

Schuylkill Expressway Ramps is too large,encouraging truck traffic and degrading pedestrian level of service. There is noreason the bridge should accommodatetrucks!

• The through bike lane should be on

the left of a dedicated right turn lane

We learned, thanks to Jim Campbell (atthe meeting), that an already existingBridge ad-hoc Committee (mostlyneighborhood groups and near-the-bridge

residents) will be meeting soon. The SouthStreet Bridge ad-hoc Committee has deter-mined that they have no confidence in the

bridge design, and has met with City Coun-cil members Anna Verna and FrankRizzo.

All agreed at the meeting that it is nottoo late to get the bridge plans changed, andthat we should work with the ad-hoc com-mittee to make sure the bridge design isfixed.

Dennis Winters will be the Bike Coali-tion liaison to an ad-hoc committee. Othersare welcome to join this committee. If youwant to be involved, contact Jim Campbellat [email protected].

The next Philly Cycling Committee will be Tuesday July 17th, 6:30 PM (6pm for pizza) at the office. We’ll plan to find as bigger room!

For complete minutes of the June PhillyCycling Committee Meeting go to: http:// bcgp.blogspot.com/2007/06/penndotstreets-dept.html


BICYCLE COALITION OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA

100 S Broad St Suite 1355

Philadelphia PA 19110

Calendar

Light of the Moving Bikes Ride

August 7, 2007

BikePhilly 2007

September 9, 2007

bicyclecoalition.org

(215) BICYCLE

Cyclegram Jul-Aug 2007

Documents

Transcript of Cyclegram Jul-Aug 2007