In March, Mayor Parker released her second proposed City Operating and Capital Budgets. We combed through it with an eye for Vision Zero funding, and attended the April 2nd Streets and Services budget hearing to learn more.
Recap: Last year’s budget included a surprising cut to the City’s Vision Zero budget, a new budget line for speed cushions, and consistent paving funds mimicking Mayor’s Kenney’s last term.
Big Picture Takeaway: We are encouraged by Mayor Parker’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026! The main budget line for Vision Zero has increased from $1 million to $3.5 million and an additional $1.5 million in Vision Zero funding shows up in another set of budget lines. The Vision Zero budget line also includes $5 million from another source of funding to pay for concrete protected bike lanes on Spruce and Pine Streets. Together, the $5 million of city funds for Vision Zero and $5 for concrete is the amount we advocated for alongside Philly Bike Action, 5th Square and all of you! Now it’s time to tell Council to keep these funds secure throughout negotiations.
We’re looking for people to join us to testify on May 13th and 14th at public testimony. City Council announced 4 different times that the public can comment on the FY26 proposed budget.
May 13th:
10:00 am-12:30 pm
1:30 pm-4:00 pm
May 14th:
10:00 am- 12:30 pm
1:30 pm-4:00 pm
Sign up to get more information
If you want to dive into the nitty gritty, scroll down – we’ll walk through the Vision Zero, paving, transit, and other budget lines of interest.
What’s new this year:
- Vision Zero budget lines 71.1 and 71.2 show a total investment of $5 million each year from City funds.
- The City’s Vision Zero budget has been restored! Each year we watch the Traffic Control line (71.1 CN Source) and this year’s budget proposed $3.5 Million compared to $1 M in FY25 and $2.5 M in FY24.
- The Speed Cushion budget line has now been renamed to Vision Zero (71.2 CN Source). This line also went up to $1.5 M from $1.25 M in FY25.
- Within line 71.1 there is $5M of Operating revenue appropriated to the Capital budget from the Operating budget (CR).
- Resurfacing and Reconstruction line 65.1: This line is a bit of mystery but the FY26 proposed budget includes a jump from $30M to $50M
- New budget line for multimodal trail maintenance (70.1)! While there is no money allocated for this year’s budget, beginning in FY27 this line would provide funds to help with any additional costs for state or federally funded trail projects, safeguarding against potential delays caused by unexpected costs (especially important during this time of federal uncertainty).
- No Zero Fare program. This program was a two year pilot created by Mayor Kenney that provided an important service for thousands of Philadelphians who depend on SEPTA to get around. After a whirlwind of advocacy from Council Member O’Rourke, this budget line was added back into the proposed budget!
What are we asking for ahead of budget negotiations (as reflected in the Livable Communities Coalition):
- Managing Director’s Operating (MDO) Budget
- $250,000 for Vision Zero Planning and Design in the MDO budget for the Office of Multimodal Planning
- $500,000 to hire a sidewalks coordinator, conduct a sidewalk master plan, and create sidewalk repair funding strategy, as recommended by a 2018 Sidewalk Policy Transportation Community Development Initiative (TCDI) to the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems.
- Restore $30 Million for the Zero Fare: Low-income fare program that was piloted in FY24 and FY25
- Streets Department Capital Budget
- The coalition supports Mayor Parker’s proposed increase of the general Vision Zero budget to $3.5 Million in 71.1 Traffic Control in Traffic Engineering IMPS for Vision Zero capital projects.
- The coalition supports Mayor Parker’s proposed increase the Vision Zero speed cushion budget to $1.5 Million in 71.2 Traffic Control in Traffic Engineering IMPS for Vision Zero speed cushions and traffic programs for traffic control
- The coalition supports Mayor Parker’s proposed $5M in Operation funds appropriated from the Capital budget for adding concrete protected bike lanes on Spruce and Pine streets.
- Designate $1 Million in CN Funds from Line 64.1 Reconstruction/Resurfacing of Streets for Vision Zero Maintenance to pay for supplies such as flex posts, quick-curb, line stripping and traffic calming devices that are installed by the Vision Zero Maintenance Crew.
- The coalition supports Mayor Parker’s proposed increase of $1 Million for Transit Improvements in line item 71.4 Traffic Control—Signal Synchronization to implement transit improvements in the City’s five high-priority corridors.
- Designate $500,000 for Multimodal Trails and Sidepaths in line item 70.1 to rehabilitate existing trails and sidepaths, design, acquire sidepaths and construct new trails to create a safer transportation network and reduce injuries and fatalities on roadways.
- Transit Capital and Operations
- The coalition supports Mayor Parker’s proposed increase in operating subsidy from $133 million to $135 million as baseline in closing the SEPTA operating deficit.
- The coalition supports Mayor Parker’s proposed increase in capital budget from $7.4 million to $8.9 million toward reducing the state-of-good-repair deficit and increasing system-wide accessibility.
What we learned in the Transportation Budget hearing on April 2nd:
- There is a plan to hire a line striping crew made up of over 830 staff to keep up with basic road maintenance.
- So far, the Streets Department has paved 50 miles and plans to complete 100 by the end of the year. This will be the first time the city has paved 100 miles since 2004.
- 108 speed cushions have been installed around schools, there are 185 more in the queue for design.
Overall, we are encouraged by Mayor Parker’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2026. It includes a lot of our budget requests from the Better Mobility Platform. We hope that going into negotiations Council will fund key initiatives like the Zero Fare pilot and the Multimodal Trail line for FY26, as well as keep the Vision Zero and paving investments.
Sign up to make your voice heard at this year’s public comment sessions on May 13th and 14th.