Protect Our Streets: Grassroots Action Toolkit

by | Jul 25, 2024 | Action Center | 0 comments

Grassroots Action Tool Kit Header

Welcome to the Grassroots Action Toolkit for Safer Streets in Philadelphia. 

This toolkit is dedicated to empowering individuals and organizations who are passionate about improving road safety and advocating for change in our city. Recent tragedies, such as the deaths of Dr. Barbara Friedes and Christopher Cabrera, highlight the urgent need for comprehensive measures to protect pedestrians, cyclists, and all vulnerable road users. 

In Philadelphia, over 60 lives have been lost to traffic crashes this year alone. Each of these incidents underscores the preventable nature of many traffic fatalities and the critical importance of effective infrastructure and policy solutions in every section of the city. Despite commitments to Vision Zero, our decision makers have prioritized motorist convenience to the neglect of non-vehicular road users and their safety. We need our City officials to prioritize and fund initiatives that will significantly enhance safety on our streets and prevent future tragedy.

This toolkit is designed to equip you with the strategies and resources needed to engage with local officials, community leaders, and fellow advocates. Together, we can drive meaningful change and ensure that our streets prioritize the safety and well-being of everyone who uses them.

In the next month we will be putting a concerted effort to reaching these goals:

  1. FULLY PROTECT the Spruce and Pine street bike lanes, Allegheny Avenue bike lane and other protected bike lanes throughout Philadelphia with permanent concrete barriers;
  2. END the legacy practice of allowing parking in bike lanes on weekends and loading at all times of the day;
  3. REPLACE all of the “No Parking” signage with “No Stopping” signage along protected bike lanes so that the PPA can better enforce dangerous behavior.

The written petition drive will end on August 9th, virtual drive on the 13th, and we’ll be delivering these signatures on August 15th at City Hall.

You’re welcome to mail paper petitions to our office at 1500 Walnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19102 Suite #1107 or you can drop them by our office in-person.

Options/resources for action:

Want to collect petitions from your neighbors or community?

Are you a part of an organization that wants to send a group letter? We have a letter template to fill out and send to your representatives.

Write a letter to the Editor

Volunteer to help us enter data into a master list we can deliver to City Hall. We already have close to 800 written signatures (which is awesome!) but to ensure all our voices are accounted for, we need help imputing that into our master list.

If you are interested in taking any of these actions please email uma@bicyclecoalition.org

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