Parking Protected Bike Lanes are proven to increase bicycle ridership and reduce serious and fatal crashes
HARRISBURG – Families of traffic crash victims, road safety advocates, Elected Officials and community members gathered on Monday, October 7th to call for action to legalize parking protected bike lanes.
It’s been over 7 years since a bill to legalize parking protected bike lanes was first introduced in the PA legislature. In that time (2017-2023) over 800 people have been killed in Philadelphia from traffic crashes and 350 of those deaths were people walking and riding bikes.
Allowing municipalities to build parking protected bike lanes is about making all road users safe, increasing sustainable modes of transportation, and local control of road design. It’s not about removing parking or increasing congestion. In fact Philadelphia’s report shows minimal traffic and parking impact because the infrastructure uses parked cars as protection, also making the infrastructure much more cost effective to building curb separation.
“My daughter Emily was killed in an unprotected bike lane in Philadelphia,” said Laura Fredricks, mother of Emily Fredricks. “Susan and Emily’s bill was created to protect people riding bicycles all across the state and make the road safe for everyone. Paint is not protection. We need real barriers to separate cyclists from those driving vehicles. The legislature has the power to give local cities the choice to build these bike lanes yet here we are 7 years later with nothing. It’s time to step up.”
Currently, PennDOT does not allow for the installation of parking-separated bike lanes on state-owned roads. Amending state legislation is an issue that the Bicycle Coalition, the City of Philadelphia, and our partners have been working on since the 2017-2018 legislative session. As an interim solution, PennDOT has permitted a pilot program to demonstrate protected bike lanes on selected state roads in Philadelphia.
Legislation is needed to modify the Commonwealth’s vehicle code in order to build parking protected bike lanes on state roads. Representative Mary Jo Daley, introduced HB1283 in May 2023 and it passed in June 20, 2023 (198-5). Recently, SB 1147 (Bartolotta-R) passed the House Transportation Committee with an amendment including the parking protected bike lane legislation.
The identical legislative language has already passed the House three times, in 2017 (HB1657 passed 187-0 ), 2019 (HB792 passed 200-1), and 2021 (HB 140 passed 201-0). In 2022, HB 140 passed the Senate with a poison pill amendment leading the Governor to veto the bill.
“It’s been nearly a decade since we introduced the first bill regarding protected bike lanes in the state legislature,” said Majority House Transportation Chairman Ed Neilson. “Every life lost could have been prevented with this legislation; it’s time to act on this now for the safety and well-being of everyone who uses Pennsylvania’s roads.”
In a recent report published by the City of Philadelphia, the pilot parking protected bike lane project led to 96% increase in bike ridership, a 20% decrease in all user crashes, and zero traffic fatalities.
It is crucial that the legislature approve this legislation so that Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Lancaster and other municipalities across the commonwealth are able to build this life saving bicycle infrastructure when and if they want.
Photo taken by Richard Urbanowski. Representatives Darisha Parker, Tarik Khan, and Keith Harris speaking at the podium during the press conference.