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
More
Philadelphia has long been a great biking city with poor biking infrastructure, but that is (slowly) changing. When you get on your bike today, you’re bound to see some new routes connecting various neighborhoods and attractions. By the end of the year, we’re likely to have a total of 20 miles of protected bike lanes
More
Four new warehouses are setting up camp in Philadelphia, and clean air activists are concerned about the pollution of their vehicles. The four new sites include an Amazon facility in Southwest, a redevelopment of the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philly, a UPS site in the Northeast and a redevelopment of the Philadelphia
More
Imagine this: You’re at the northern tip of Maine. You’re on your bike. You can start riding now and stay on off-street, dedicated bike facilities for 3,000 miles, all the way to Key West, Florida. Your journey will take you through 25 major cities, 15 states and Washington, D.C. Someday, you won’t need to imagine
More
There’s a new bike shop in town, and for co-owners Adena Brewington-Brown, Michael Brown and Isaiah Urbino, it’s about way more than selling bikes. The trio—a married couple and their “third wheel”—wants The Tricycle Shop to be a community space where everyone will feel welcome and comfortable. Setting up shop in the same location that
More
While it seems like just yesterday, it was six years ago that a world-famous hitchhiking robot was smashed in Philadelphia. The robot—dubbed hitchBOT—was originally created by a Canadian research team. It “could carry a limited conversation” and “took a photo every 20 minutes,” according to the Associated Press. HitchBOT had previously made its way across
More
Even our roads reflect our racism. In December 2018, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) issued a report called “Crashes and Communities of Concern in the Greater Philadelphia Area.” They undertook the study as a means to investigate anecdotal evidence suggesting that people of color were more likely to be victims of severe car
More
Spring is here, vaccine appointments are available for all adults, and you’re ready to get back on your bicycle. After all, it was a long winter defined by a right-wing riot at the Capitol, some pleasant snowfall (which we hadn’t seen around here in a while) and slightly uncomfortable outdoor dining in freezing temperatures under
More
Earlier this year, as policy director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, I began meeting with City Council staff, businesses, registered community organizations and nonprofits to discuss the future of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The drive has become one of the most trafficked trails in the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania since it was
More
Over the last few years, the two-way protected bike lane on 11th Street has provided a safer route for thousands of people who commute and run errands in South Philadelphia every day. It’s become such an important route for cyclists, in fact, the city now plows the lane when it snows. But it nearly didn’t
More
You don’t need to be an urban planner to appreciate the inherent good of public space. This is what Dena Driscoll, co-chair of the all-volunteer grassroots organization and urbanist political action committee 5th Square wants Philadelphians to know as they reimagine the city beyond the pandemic. Formed in 2014, 5th Square supports candidates for local
More