Almost any cyclist or pedestrian knows the pleasure of cruising down a trail without a car in sight. Usually, the open-road vibe only lasts for a limited time before the reality of near ubiquitous traffic reasserts itself. The mission of the Circuit Trails, one of the nation’s most ambitious multiuse trail networks — right here
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As climate change caused flooding and extreme heat in the region and elsewhere, Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration set its sights on reducing Philly’s emissions. Before the pandemic, the City of Philadelphia operated a fleet of approximately 5,500 vehicles — everything from sedans and SUVs to street sweepers and garbage trucks. These spewed over 50,000 metric
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It’s a Friday morning in October, and there’s a steady stream of cars driving down 43rd Street in West Philly’s Spruce Hill neighborhood. Then, through the traffic, a cavalcade emerges of about 20 parents and children on bicycles — a mix of kids on electric cargo bikes, kids on the front of folding bikes, kids
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On most weekdays, Tariem Burroughs takes his first grader to school on the Route 21 bus, so his husband, Nick, gets their son dressed and ready. Nick manages the moods of the six-year-old, sure, but it’s Burroughs who deals with the piece of the morning puzzle that’s both unpredictable and beyond the family’s control: SEPTA.
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Several times a week, John Boyle, research director for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, rides the power of electricity to work. A resident of Edgewater Park, New Jersey, Boyle rides a foldable e-bike to the Beverly Rail Station, which he takes aboard NJ Transit’s River Line to Camden. If the weather is nice, he’ll
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First came the heavy rains. Then came the derailed train. On the morning of July 17, the Delaware Valley held its collective breath as reports came in that a freight train had derailed in Whitemarsh Township, a few miles from Philadelphia’s northwest border. The train carried rail cars containing hazardous materials and residents were evacuated
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On a sunny afternoon in late spring, 27 sixth graders from Mount Airy’s Henry H. Houston Elementary School skipped and hooted their way to SEPTA’s Carpenter Train Station, as if already savoring the adventure of planting trees there. “We identified flowers and pollinators along the way,” says Christine Bush, a STEM (science, technology, engineering and
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How does the Philadelphian cross the road? It isn’t always easy or safe. Dangerous intersections mean bikers, pedestrians and people with disabilities risk life and limb to simply get where they’re going. The risks they take are apparent in death and injury statistics — 49 pedestrians and cyclists were killed in 2021, according to the
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I drive, walk and bike with one eye following the pavement, scanning for dead animals. It comes from my background as a herper, someone who recreationally searches for reptiles and amphibians. A popular way to find the critters I love is “road cruising,” in which you drive around and look for them crossing the pavement.
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Carol Foy, a lifelong Grays Ferry resident and community advocate, knows how dangerous air pollution can be. “I lost a son over a decade ago who had lung problems,” she says. “He was only 33 years old.” After moving out of Grays Ferry, her son moved by the oil refinery in South Philadelphia. He lived
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Samara Banks was the life of the party. Everyone waited for her to arrive at family gatherings, knowing that she would be the one to rally her cousins and entertain the crowd with a song or dance. “She was always happy and hopeful,” Latanya Byrd says. “She loved children and people loved her naturally. And
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