The PA Senate is standing in the way of protected bike lane installations across the state

Illustration by Sean Rynkewicz

By Randy LoBasso

Urging his colleagues in the state legislature to act swiftly on parking-protected bike lane and pedestrian plaza legislation, Pennsylvania State Senator Larry Farnese of Philadelphia penned a dire warning June 19.

“If we fail to act … we risk the loss of several major bike lane projects funded for construction this year,” Farnese wrote to the Senate Transportation Committee leadership, senators Kim Ward and John Sabatina. “[W]e must act now in order to decrease the amount of bicycle fatalities in our state, increase the safety of all individuals on our roads, and to make sure we appropriately use taxpayer dollars for future road paving projects.”

That week came and went. 

And although the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed its own bike lane bill, the Senate Transportation Committee failed to bring the legislation up for vote before it dismissed for the summer. The next chance to work on this legislation is later this month, when the legislature reconvenes.

In the meantime, though, because Pennsylvania senators failed to act, streets infrastructure projects around the state have been delayed and more lives were put at risk. 

Pennsylvania bike lanes and the law

Let me first say: this shouldn’t be going on. 

People who commute by bicycle are very rarely considered when laws are written and infrastructure is installed.

For instance, in Title 75 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) says motor vehicles must park within 12 inches of a curb. It further clarifies that line-striping and flex posts cannot be interpreted as a curb. This presents a hurdle for parking protected bike lane installations because line striping and flex posts are often used to separate the parked cars from the bike lane.

To install parking protected bike lanes on our city streets would require a legislative change to the vehicle code that specifically says a motor vehicle can park more than 12 inches from a curb. It’s easier said than done given Pennsylvania’s legislature.

The push for legislative action

Cities like Pittsburgh, Lancaster, Harrisburg, and, yes, Philadelphia, have protected bike lane projects that are waiting for state approval. In some cases, like that of Parkside Avenue in West Philadelphia, the bike lane has already been built and striped. The City just needs the go ahead to move parking away from the curb.

Bike groups around the state have not been waiting patiently for such
permissions. 

In April, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, where I work, and Bike Pittsburgh launched a campaign with People for Bikes organizing people all over
Pennsylvania to demand the Senate and House Transportation Committees vote on these bills. In May, the mayors of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Lancaster co-wrote a letter asking for this legislation to come up for a vote. 

To give credit where it’s due, the Pennsylvania House Transportation Committee took up the bill in June, and it passed unanimously. It was taken up by the full Pennsylvania House of Representatives and passed nearly unanimously, 200-1, soon after.

To become law, the Senate needed to take up the legislation, pass it, and give it to the governor. But the Senate did nothing. And as streets and roads across the Commonwealth are paved in the summer and fall, the result is that many have been paved without safety improvements.

PA senators return to work on September 23, and advocates will be there lobbying for safe bike lanes.

Streets at risk

In addition to the aforementioned Parkside Avenue, 5th Street, Lindberg Boulevard through Southwest Philadelphia, and the Chestnut Street Bridge, are all ready to install protected bike lanes. The Pennsylvania Senate holding this legislation back not only harms these projects; it also delays others from beginning.

PennDOT and the City of Philadelphia should be able to provide infrastructure that allows anyone, regardless of what mode of transportation they choose, easy and safe access to the streets. This is a political problem, but it’s also a climate problem, a safety problem, a congestion problem and a force holding Philadelphia—and other cities around the Commonwealth—back from reaching their full potential.

Is the world’s best pannier designed in Philadelphia?

By Emily Kovach

Nearly every cyclist has had this experience: You’re at the Reading Terminal or the farmers market to grab a few things. Five impulse buys later (beets were on sale!) and the ride home becomes a precarious one. Straining under a stuffed backpack, you swear you won’t make this mistake again. 

And yet, you almost definitely will. That is, unless you’re one of the early adopters of the BikeBox. This ingenious bike-cargo solution is designed to take the load off your shoulders and put it onto the back of your bike. Designed to take the place of unbalanced panniers and flimsy milk crates, the BikeBox might be a key to unlocking the future of urban bike culture.

After researching and developing prototypes for a decade, Abraham Dubb, 47, a former primary-care physician, left a 15-year career in medicine to pursue this as a business. 

“I am a diehard urban cyclist—I don’t currently own a car—and Philly’s geography and elevation make it one of the most bike-friendly towns around,” the Center City resident says. “I’ve always wanted to do things from my bike.” 

Dubb is also a musician, and the BikeBox idea was born after many unsteady rides bringing his instruments and gear to shows. After trying a few different bike-mounted boxes, Dubb had a breakthrough in 2011: coroplast, the corrugated plastic that is used to make political-campaign signs.

“Corrugated plastic is a material of the future: It is very light, durable, waterproof, impact resistant and cushioned,” Dubb says. “Plus, it’s [made of] polypropylene, so it can be recycled and sourced from recycled materials.”

Working out of NextFab in South Philly, Dubb uses computer-aided design (CAD) software to develop the boxes virtually and then a Computer Numeric Control (CNC) cutter to finish them. One of the first BikeBox iterations (the BikeArrow, with boxes on the front and back of the bike) was field-tested by Dubb on a 550-mile bike ride between Philly and Charlottesville. Packed inside his BikeArrow was bottled water, a drone, his computer, two pairs of shoes, clothing, a tent and tools. 

“It performed amazingly well,” he reports. “I rode through torrential downpours and on flooded paths, and everything was kept nice and dry.”

The BikeBox, which fits neatly over a standard rear rack on a bike, comes in two sizes: the Standard, a good size for groceries, and the smaller Bike Purse, with a more streamlined silhouette and a bit less cargo space. Both are available on BikeBox’s website and are assembled by the user at home. Dubb says he’s working on getting the BikeBox on the shelves of local bike shops, a goal for 2019. 

He can also use his design and technology to make custom BikeBoxes, which opens up many possibilities.

“My vision is to revolutionize how we use our bikes,” Dubb says. “Couriers, food delivery services, bike touring…even in developing countries where people just don’t have cars, there are tons of DIY solutions, but it doesn’t seem like anyone’s found a large-scale solution.” 

He envisions people and businesses getting creative with how to use the BikeBox, which can be branded, outfitted with speakers, GPS or other electronics, offering bike-based medical services or vending food.

One of the first local businesses Dubb has worked with is Jezabel’s, an Argentinian café, formerly located in Fitler Square, and now with a location at 45th and Walnut in University City. Owner Jezabel Careaga wanted to use her folding bike to make deliveries of her famous empanadas, especially on the UPenn campus.

“I’m a pretty environmental conscious person, and I thought, ‘How can we make this work without a car?’ ” she says. “[Dubb] custom-built a box that can fit ‘fish flats,’ a commonly used food tray in the restaurant industry, to fit on my foldable bike.”

Careaga, who met Dubb at NextFab, where she makes furniture, says the toughest ride she’s taken her BikeBox on was a trek to the Art Museum with 90 empanadas. 

“The way that he builds them, the box is slightly U-shaped, so that helps with stability,” she says. “I think this is safer because you’re not carrying it on your body. It’s a lot less stress, and you can carry more food. It’s definitely an awesome product.” 

A professional cyclist leads program designed to make cycling more inclusive

By Alexandra W. Jones

Whether you are riding a bike or navigating life, balance is essential. That’s what Taylor Kuyk-White, professional cyclist and the manager of the Bicycle Coalition Youth Cycling program (BCYC), teaches her students.

The Philadelphia program, which serves students ages 12 to 18, aims to help build healthy habits and leadership skills through cycling. It takes place after school and is run in collaboration with schools and community centers across the city.

In addition to her job at the coalition, Kuyk-White also races bikes. This year, she competed in three different primary disciplines at the competitive level. She landed this job in 2016, about a year after she’d caught a bug for the world of road, cyclocross, and mountain bike tournaments. 

When the position opened up with BCYC, she jumped at the chance to combine her passions for cycling and youth development. 

“Competitive cycling is a very expensive, very exclusive, very white, very male sport,” she explains. “Binding together with individuals and communities that are working to break down some of those barriers and build momentum in terms of what the future of the sport looks like is a bigger fuel to me than just getting better results.”

BCYC began in 2007 as Cadence Youth Cycling and became a branch of the Bike Coalition in 2013. Over the past few years, Kuyk-White says it’s grown significantly. Three years ago it had 89 youth members— this year it has 137.

According to Kuyk-White, much of her work involves empowering students to determine how cycling will help them. She trains the 4 to 15 BCYC-employed coaches, provides the equipment and occasionally practices with the them. 

Students who have been on a team year after year fill in roles as team captains and junior coaches. The teens enjoy having something that holds them accountable to their goals and expectations in life, she says.

The students seem to agree.

“I enjoy the environment,” says Lurena Watkins, 15, who has been in the program for two years. Watkins enjoys the races and “having people there that support you even if they don’t know you.”

Students started practicing for the fall season in September and will continue twice a week throughout the school year. 

Although it’s exciting to be able to do the work they do on the bike, it’s not just about cycling, Kuyk-White says.

As Jahmiel Jackson, 16, a two-year veteran, puts it: BCYC is a platform where young athletes can be ambitious and challenge themselves, each in their own way. Whether it’s working on time management by getting to practice on time or employing the self-discipline any competitive sport requires.

BCYC is something different to each student who participates. Yes, some train with the intention of becoming professional cyclists, and some use it as a way to make friends while enjoying a bike ride. Others use the program as a motivational tool to do well in school.

“The end goal,” Kuyk-White says, “is defined by the youth themselves.”

Legal experts weigh in on bike safety and the law

In the last five years, the cycling community has seen 93 major injuries and 22 fatalities in Philadelphia County alone—bikers hit while turning corners or riding on the shoulders of cramped roads,  even by inattentive drivers backing out of parking spaces. [Editor’s note: These numbers, gathered by PennDOT, report only the crashes in which a severe injury or fatality occurred.]

There’s no catchall for how to avoid bike crashes—especially in the citvy. But there are ways you can protect yourself, so this month, Grid talked to two Philadelphia bike-injury lawyers to get the best advice.

Insuring your Safety

Before you wheel your bike out onto the pavement, there’s something you need to know: your car insurance matters.

In Pennsylvania, bike accidents are covered by your auto insurance. According to Joseph Piscitello, of Piscitello Law, many people don’t realize that in the event of a bike crash, the first legal step bikers take is to open a claim with their car insurance company.

Pennsylvania bicycle accident injuries are covered by the insurance of the driver at fault for the accident. If no one is at fault, your medical bills will be covered by your own auto insurance.

“By law, your car insurance has to pay your medical bills,” he explains. “As a cyclist, one of the most important things you can do to make sure you protect yourself on a bike is to make sure you have a good car insurance policy.” 

One of the most common mistakes people make, Piscitello says, is getting limited tort insurance—a type of policy that greatly reduces your ability to make a claim for your pain and suffering, although it will cover your medical bills. 

Because your car insurance is responsible for you in the event of a crash, Piscitello recommends “full tort,” a policy that has your back even in the event a driver cuts you off and is never identified. He also advises that cyclists hold policies with “underinsurance” and “uninsurance” clauses, so that in the case where the at-fault driver is underinsured or uninsured, your insurance is liable for your treatment.

What to do if You Have an Accident

First things first: Get to the side of the road. 

“Because people get hit again,” Piscitello says.

Next, call the police. And if you have a phone on you, take photographs of the scene— pictures of your injuries, the car that hit you and any damage to your bicycle. Then write down everything you can about the vehicle that struck you: license plate number, the vehicle model, the driver’s name and insurance information.

This is the type of information that will help you in case you have sustained serious injuries in the accident. According to Stuart Leon, of Bicycle Crash Law, 99 percent of bikers who get hurt in a crash and get identification are able to get the medical treatment that they need paid for. Not doing so is the No. 1  mistake bikers make.

“It’s not first nature to get information or identification from the [person driving the] vehicle that hits you,” Leon says. “That’s not what the people are thinking about. They’re thinking about survival and getting home.”

Another tip from Leon is to check for witnesses, especially if the driver didn’t stop. A full quarter of the cases he sees at his firm, he says, are hit and runs. If anyone else saw what happened, he advises you to get their names and phone numbers and ask them to send you a statement of what happened.

“There are usually a lot of random heroes, citizens, crime fighters, just good samaritans around,” he says.

If the motorist won’t wait for the police, get the license plate number, state of issue, and a description of the person driving the car. Then, when the police arrive, request an incident report so that you can settle the case with the driver’s insurance company. If you’ve been doored, ask the officer to cite the motorist for dooring.

“Be exceedingly respectful to the police officer,” Piscitello advises. “Because the police officer has some discretion in what he’s hearing and the amount of logic he or she employs in looking at the situation.”

Philadelphia police are not required to report to a crash where no injuries are reported and both vehicles can drive away. If you are not injured, and the police will not show up, you can fill out a crash report via phone or in person at a police station. As soon as you can, be sure to write down your own detailed description of the accident.

Both lawyers note that Pennsylvania laws significantly reduce the amount bikers pay for medical treatment after a crash, so bikers should not be intimidated by medical costs if they need treatment afterwards.

Getting Back on the Bike

Get an estimate for bike repairs from a bike shop. This is important for insurance and legal proceedings. Then, contact a lawyer. 

You can also apply for consideration from the Emily Fredricks Memorial Fund, a local Philadelphia  foundation, set up in collaboration with the Bicycle Coalition, that replaces bicycles that were damaged in a crash. The fund exists to honor the memory of Emily Fredricks, a 24-year-old pastry chef killed in a bicycle crash in November 2017. Beginning in January 2019, the Fredricks family will present the awardees.