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Calling on the Pennsylvania State Senate to pass House Bill 1283, Susan’s and Emily’s Law, to empower municipalities to create parking protected bike lanes on state-owned roads.
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WHEREAS, Bike safety is a critical issue for all Philadelphians, with a disproportionate impact on working-class communities and communities of color, who are more likely to rely on walking, biking, and public transit as primary modes of transportation; and
WHEREAS, The City’s Vision Zero report revealed that 124 people were killed in traffic crashes in 2023, with Black and Hispanic residents suffering a higher rate of fatalities, including a notable increase in cyclist and pedestrian deaths from previous years; and
WHEREAS, Already, in 2024, we have witnessed a slew of tragic cyclist and pedestrian fatalities, which all could have been prevented by a robust network of protective infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, One critical tool that protects both bikers and pedestrians from accidents on roadways is the parking protected bike lane, which creates a barrier of parked cars between roadways and bike lanes; and
WHEREAS, Parking protected bike lanes are also some of the least expensive road interventions that protect bikers and pedestrians; and
WHEREAS, Current Pennsylvania law severely restricts our ability to create parking protected bike lanes in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, Under current Pennsylvania law, vehicles must park along a state roadway within
12 inches of the curb, which effectively prohibits any parking protected bike lanes on state owned roads; and
WHEREAS, This state rule is dangerously outdated, being written years prior to parking protected bike lanes becoming standard engineering designs; and
WHEREAS, As a result, all municipalities in Pennsylvania are limited in their ability to implement designs proven to protect vulnerable users, including people with limited mobility as well as pedestrians and bicyclists, or from experimenting with road configurations in accord with their best engineering judgment; and
WHEREAS, To address this situation, Representatives Mary Jo Daley and Ed Neilson have introduced House Bill 1283 and passed it through the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. House Bill 1283 would change the state motor vehicle code to allow vehicles to park more than 12 inches from the curb, thereby creating space for parking protected bike lanes on state owned roads; and
WHEREAS, House Bill 1283 comes on the heels of multiple House Bills introduced and passed during recurring sessions by Rep. David Maloney, the most recent of which is House Bill 140, the Parking Protected Bike Lane and Plaza Bill; and
WHEREAS, Named for Susan Hicks of Pittsburgh and Emily Fredricks of Philadelphia, two women who were killed while riding their bicycles to work, House Bill 1283 is a critical and necessary step that will empower municipalities throughout Pennsylvania with the ability to stop tragic and preventable deaths on state owned roads; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby call upon the Pennsylvania State Senate to pass House Bill 1283, Susan’s and Emily’s Law, to empower municipalities to create parking protected bike lanes on state-owned roads.
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