A comparison of tickets written to motorists illegally blocking bike lanes in May 2022 (46 tickets) to May 2023 (400 tickets) shows a 769% increase.
Based on the location of tickets provided to the Bicycle Coalition by the PPA, we prepared the map below. Tickets are from all over Greater Center City, West Philadelphia and South Philly.
The addition of a new bicycle patrol unit of enforcement officers by the Philadelphia Parking Authority that started in early May is the reason for this increase. It shows that even when blocks allow motorists are permitted to “stand” for 20 minutes to load/unload, many motorists take advantage of painted, unprotected bike lanes by parking in them illegally. This is a program that the Bicycle Coalition proposed in 2014 to PPA to address chronic illegal parking in unprotected bike lanes and was finally proposed in 2022 and began in 2023.
One solution that needs execution by the City of Philadelphia is to create more loading/unloading zones in parking lanes located in residential neighborhoods. We are pursuing the creation of such zones and trying to get them prioritized by the City of Philadelphia.
To report a bike lane violation, call 215-683-9773 or tweet a photo of the incident, location and time @philapark