Hi! We're bike safety advocates for immediate change within Philadelphia city limits.
We fight for all current and future bike riders.
We demand a safe, useable, and interconnected network of *protected* bike paths in Philly.
We organize on Discord and at in-person meetups.
In this video taken by one of our members you can see a sedan mounting and driving down a sidewalk at full traffic speeds. In the same video you can see another vehicle parked in the grade-separated two-way bike lane
BIG WIN ALERT: Old Pine Street Church has WITHDRAWN its bike lane parking permit effective immediately!
We want to thank leaders at
@oldpinechurch
for reacting to recent events with dignity and grace. We applaud this demonstration of leadership in the faith community.
Unfortunately, it seems that
@PhillyMayor
had other plans than listening to the concerns of 6,000 of her constituents about her “solemn promise” to make Philadelphia safer, cleaner, and greener.
Due to the horrific news of a person on a bike being killed by a motorist on Spruce Street this evening, our scheduled Sunday bike lane party will now be a vigil, not a party. Please join us at 17th and Spruce 8am-11am this coming Sunday.
We're calling on
@PhillyMayor
and Council to step in to immediately implement design changes and enforcement to address the epidemic of criminally dangerous drivers endangering pedestrians and people on bikes in Philadelphia.
cc
@PhillyOTIS
@PhilaStreets
@PhilaParking
The Mayor's office is compiling a list of Philadelphia residents who are calling in support of fully protected bike lanes. They are picking up right now and the call takes less than a minute.
Please call now: ☎️ 215-686-2181
Just called Mayor's office. Got through in 5 seconds. They are compiling a list of people who "care about the bike lane." Worth your time to call since it takes just 30 seconds. Tell them this is a HUGE issue for you & and you want real bike infrastructure! Mayor ☎️ 215-686-2181
🎉 Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel (BZBI) has obtained a permit that does not include the Spruce bike lane.
Sanctioned bike lane parking on Spruce & Pine is now over!
Next step: Concrete protection for the Spruce & Pine bike lanes. Join us at City Hall on September 5!
Thank you to Society Hill Synagogue for obtaining a new parking permit that does not include the Spruce St bike lane!
There is now only one house of worship left utilizing bike lanes for parking
amen brown just pulled up to my polling place in a tank-sized suburban and pulled through a parallel parking spot to park sideways in the bike lane lol
"On a typically quiet Sunday morning outside Tenth Presbyterian Church in Rittenhouse Square, a local group of bike safety advocates gathered for a protest party." Thank you
@_RosaCartagena
@PhillyInquirer
. Read more:
THANK YOU 🎉 Tenth Presbyterian! In a statement to their congregation last night, Tenth Presbyterian leadership announced that it will withdraw the Spruce and Pine bike lanes from their parking permits! That is six blocks of bike lanes that will now be open for bikes on Sundays.
Next year, the Schuylkill River Trail under Market St will be closed for 15 months. PennDOT’s published detour plan has us wondering if they ever tried to bike over Walnut Street Bridge themselves?
(1/6)
Please stop parking your SUVs in the bike lane
@PHLschools
. Protected bike lanes are one of the only tools we have to make kids and other vulnerable riders safer on our streets.
We are not serious about public safety.
@PhillyMayor
@PPDCommish
@PhilaParking
how can you justify this? How does blatantly breaking the law and endangering pedestrians and cyclists give law enforcement credibility?
We are asking Tenth Presbyterian Church, Society Hill Synagogue, and Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel to join these congregations and relinquish their "equipment placement" permits to give the bike lanes back to their neighbors.
Old Pine joins the ranks of institutions who have relinquished their permits:
- Philadelphia Ethical Society
- Saint Peter's Church
- Old Saint Joseph's Church
- Old Pine Street Church
1,100 cyclists were killed and 46,200 were injured in 2022, according to
@NHTSAgov
data. May is National Bicycle Safety Month, and we’ll be sharing tips to help drivers and cyclists share the road safely.
Find bike safety info at .
#BikeSafetyMonth
Bring everyone, we’re taking the streets!
Friday, July 26 at 6:00 PM
Meet at the Art Museum Steps
We’ll ride through the city to City Hall to protest decades of inaction and half-measures and demand immediate safety improvements for pedestrians and people on bicycles.
Great reporting by
@LizCrawfordNews
! I think we all want the Philly government to work better and these handshake agreements aren't the way. Especially when people are put in danger as a result.
Traffic calming = bicycle infrastructure. We should be funding this 10 times over in addition to concrete protection.
Slowing cars down and making our neighborhoods safer places to be will more than pay for itself.
@PhiladelphiaGov
Scenes from from the Bike Lane Party this morning. Join us next week from 8am to 11am at Spruce and 17th. We are thinking a Latin Dance Party theme. Also, sign the petition at if you have not yet.
It’s Monday now and you know what that means: Time to call the Mayor’s office! ☎️ 215-686-2181
Tell them you’re tired of inaction and half-measures.
- Full protection for Spruce, Pine, and Allegheny now!
- End bike lane parking
- Physical protection of intersections
Mayor Parker's statement on last week's traffic deaths and injuries committed to no action and no change to the status quo.
If you find that unacceptable you should call her office and let her know: 215-686-2181
It takes just a minute and sends an important message.
Today Mayor Parker announced her response to the 6k petition signatures calling for concrete protection on Spruce, Pine, and Allegheny.
It is the responsibility of City Leaders to implement Complete Street practices with the urgency the epidemic of traffic violence demands.
This is why engineering is so much more important than enforcement. Unfortunately state DoTs such as
@PennDOTNews
routinely prioritize metrics such as level of service and traffic volume over safety. A road diet and traffic calming would have prevented this tragedy.
2/2
@PhillyPolice
officers tell FOX29 News privately they hope Steven’s death prompts authorities to take steps to alter the danger at Kelly Drive at Reservoir Drive. Drivers, including the one police say caused the crash, veer into oncoming traffic to make illegal left turns.
Photos from a PBA organizer: Operators and clients of KOP-based boutique Free Press have been illegally parking in the 15th St bike lane between Vine & Callowhill in defiance of the No Stopping sign, which prohibits stopping for any amount of time for safety reasons. Please stop.
Multiply biking.
@PhillyMayor
we could be the Greenest transportation city in the USA, all while enabling Philadelphians to get where they’re going, spend less money doing it, have more fun, and be more healthy. Our goal is infrastructure for people who do not yet bike but will!
Philly is extremely well positioned to decrease congestion by encouraging cycling, whenever leadership decides to step up.
For example in census tract 31 approx. 25% of commuters already commute via bike.
Better bike infra would *multiply* biking, notably reducing car traffic.
Today we are launching our official campaign to end the congregational bike lane parking permits on Spruce and Pine streets!
Go to to learn how to get involved and sign our petition to the City of Philadelphia demanding that these permits be withdrawn.
We now have more than 750 signatures and emails sent! The City has heard from literally hundreds of you about the need to stop issuing equipment placement permits to let personal vehicles park in bike lanes.
If you care about bike safety and haven't signed yet, please do!
370 signatures, 370 emails to
@PhillyOTIS
...and counting!
If you haven't signed the petition yet, what are you waiting for?
Tell the City to end bike lane parking permits! Sign the petition & send your message in seconds at .
#withdrawthepermits
370 signatures, 370 emails to
@PhillyOTIS
...and counting!
If you haven't signed the petition yet, what are you waiting for?
Tell the City to end bike lane parking permits! Sign the petition & send your message in seconds at .
#withdrawthepermits
If you need a bike for tonight consider
@RideIndego
. Their bikes are sturdy and put you upright, perfect for the easy pace tonight. They offer 24 hour passes on their app. There are a lot of stations near the start point but we can't guarantee availability so plan accordingly!
Sign our petition and email the Mayor and Council President's offices!
Mayor Cherelle Parker's Budget includes a 60% decrease in spending on Vision Zero projects, which help protect pedestrians, motorists, and people on bikes. Now is not the time to give up on safety.
Thank you everyone who signed and thanks everyone who shared! These are numbers worth bragging about. You can still sign at . You can also join us for our 2nd bike lane party this Sunday, 8am to 11am at 17th and Spruce.
@PhillyOTIS
@PhilaStreets
Their route funnels SRT bike riders AND more cars onto the already messy 23rd St, then down the nail-biting Walnut St Bridge bike lane that gets crossed by cars merging onto I-76. We want to know what PennDOT is going to do to protect the bike riders they are detouring.
(2/6)
Philly Bike Action is calling on
@PennDOTNews
to:
>> Extend the SRT detour on 23rd St to Spruce where cyclists can re-join the SRT at Locust St
>> Add a permanent protected bike lane on 23rd Street from Summer St to Spruce St
(3/6)
As a reminder, yes, you can also bike lanes that have not been cleared to our database.
@PhiladelphiaGov
bike lanes across the city are not being cleared. Why? And what is your plan to resolve this?
"Every time I see a cyclist awkwardly avoiding parked cars, I remember that allowing drivers to park in bike lanes shifts the cost to the rest of us — in the form of danger and inconvenience." Check out PBA organizer Christopher Dascher's op-ed!
We must insist on constant improvement to the protected bike network. Increased bike mode share is an important part of a Greener Philadelphia and riders need to feel Safer to make it happen. It’s also easier on the wallet and reduces traffic!
Thank you to all the houses of worship that have taken action for safer streets:
- Tenth Presbyterian
- Old Pine Street Church
- Saint Peter’s
- Old Saint Joseph’s
- Philadelphia Ethical Society
Yesterday, the 10th person riding a bicycle was hit and killed on Henry Ave. This makes the highest number of bicyclists killed in Philadelphia’s recorded history. We cannot afford to wait a second longer to invest in safer infrastructure & communities
Since 23rd St is a City road, Council President
@CouncilmemberKJ
and
@PhillyMayor
also have responsibility to ensure PennDOT’s protection plan is doing the utmost to keep Philadelphians safe.
(5/6)
PBA founder Caleb Holtmeyer quoted in this
@PhillyInquirer
article by
@aseemrshukla
about challenges with bike lane enforcement in Philadelphia! (Paywall)
>> Add a protected bike lane and bike signal on Walnut Street Bridge
>> Ensure the detour route matches or exceeds the protection of the route being detoured
>> Increase transparency with bicycle riders and
@PhillyOTIS
during project planning
(4/6)
How did this become so normalized? Where is the space for a kid to ride a bike? What about those who prefer to ride at a slower pace? We are meeting up at 9:30am at the Schuylkill River Park and showing the community we want our bike lanes back! Safety is a priority!
We're also grateful to be in productive talks with Society Hill Synagogue & Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel, the two remaining congregations w/ permits to park/stop in the bike lanes. We ask for respect and patience for existing arrangements while these conversations continue.
District 1 meeting tomorrow at 7pm, Crane Chinatown, 1001 vine street. Come talk about how to make cycling safer in Councilman Squilla's district and enjoy a great view of the city. (Please arrive by 7:10pm as you have to be let in the lobby)
@PhilaParkandRec
Good to see MLK being closed to car traffic! It is truly an asset to the city. Perhaps we could close the circle drive in FDR park to traffic too. Its designed like a racetrack and someone was just killed riding their back there very recently.
The “arrangements” by which
@PhiladelphiaGov
and
@PhilaParking
allow illegal parking in bike lanes are very shortsighted and fail to take into account the other consequences of permitting this kind of abuse
@CyclingPhilly
@bcgp
Bike lane parking is literally a contagious activity - the people parking in the lane on Spruce on Sundays continue LONG after the churchgoers have left.
Just takes one or two scofflaws to start a dangerous trend
- Re-regulate all "No Parking" in bike lanes to "No Stopping".
- Make physical protection at intersections the design default to keep pedestrians and people on bikes safe.
Consider using any number of legal parking options including the parking garage conveniently located literally right next to your store instead of endangering the public.
We thank the Church for their commitment to collaborate with us in working group meetings over the last few months & deeply appreciate this gesture of goodwill & community spirit.
In light of this welcome development our Bike Lane Parties are OVER until further notice!
@PhilaParking
Perhaps you should speak with Steve Lorenz from the streets department. He keeps signing permits for the churches and synagogues on Spruce and Pine street so they can use the bike lane as "free" parking.
Hey everyone! We are excited to finally have completed the 1st edition of our bike lane design guide. Now you can map out your own bike lane proposals for your community. Reach out if you need any help using the guide.
Link to guide:
#phillycycling
This is terrible. It looks like the person on the bicycle was hit in an unprotected bike lane. *We need* a network of fully protected bike lanes to protect vulnerable road users. We need to do something about the insane driving too
Check out our new Bike Lane proposals. They can be found here:
These new proposals cover Callowhill and 3rd street. Also, thanks to everyone who attended the Sunday Slow Ride today! Hope to see you at the next one!
Our Spruce/Pine bike lane improvement guide is published! The full version can be viewed on our website:
Shout out to our GIS guru for all their hard work getting this done. We hope to make many more designs in the future.
Doing the Lord's work out here at PBA! We started this year with 7 bike lane parking permits and we are down to 4. Everyone deserves to ride safely. Let's make parking in the bike lanes a thing of the past!
The culture in this city regarding how we treat people outside of automobiles has got to change. We will look back on this time and wonder why we let so many people get hurt and killed because of our obsession with cars. Until then, we will keep fighting for safer streets.
We must make bike routes significantly safer and more convenient in order to make this happen. You’ll know it’s working when you see small kids and elders out on bikes like in other world cities that are succeeding in doing this. Let’s make it happen!
Come out tonight to honor people in our area who were killed on their bike. Last year, there were ten people killed on bikes in Philadelphia alone. See you at City Hall at 6:45pm
The Philadelphia Ethical Society will no longer be requesting parking permits for the Spruce/Pine bike lanes! We hope the 6 congregations currently requesting permits will do the same. Alternatively, Steve Lorenz could quit signing the bike lane parking permits.
@PhilaStreets
Some Philly zip codes already haven’t more bike commuters per capita than almost anywhere in the country. It’s a convenient way to get around much of the city! But we need to make it a safe option for *everyone*, not just the few brave enough to do it with minimal protection
3 more days until the Sunday Slow Ride! No doubt we are serious about safe bike lanes. We even have a sign making guide for the professional or aspiring artists out there! The guide can be found here on our website:
Ride deets here:
Since January 2023, 86 pedestrians and 11 people on bikes have been killed by cars in Philadelphia.
Two of our neighbors were killed and another seriously injured in this manner in Center City, Germantown, and Port Richmond on July 17 alone.
City officials have been dragging their feet on safety improvements for years, and since nominally committing to Vision Zero, fatalities have actually gone up.
@b1naryw0r1d
@PhilaParking
If its on Spruce and Pine street there are permits given to the churches and synagogues to park in the bike lane. It is something we would like to see change. Here is an example of one
Tonight at the Ethical Society! Great way to get involved with the work of PBA, especially if it is your first time attending! We will be on the 2nd floor.
Hey everyone!
The Philly Bike Action District 1 Meeting will be next Monday, October 30th at 6:30pm. We will be discussing how to make cycling safer in Councilman Mark Squilla's district. More information about the meeting can be found here:
We would like to thank the community for their 18 weeks of support and all the volunteers who participated on Sundays. We will be celebrating in the coming weeks, get stoked! 🎉
These deaths are preventable. These are our demands:
- Immediately install permanent concrete protection for bike lanes across Philadelphia including Spruce, Pine, and Allegheny.
- End bike lane parking “permits” for Spruce & Pine Streets ...