6:30 Call to Order

Special Guest Appearance

Philadelphia’s new Pedestrian and Bicycle Coordinator, Charles Carmalt, introduced himself to the committee.

Charles said he was active with Gihon Jordan on the Transportation Research Board for many years.  He said Gihon taught him that school zones (sidewalks) were not important per se, instead, all sidewalks were important.  Charles has been a consultant for 20 years in New Jersey, including work on bike/ped issues.  His first job was as a Greenway planner in Raleigh.  He worked for 8 years as a planner for NJ DOT. He presented a paper in Seattle at ProWalk/Pro Bike on the history of sidewalks.  He praised traffic calming circles in Seattle, and 4-ways stop signs in Philly.  He talked about new pervious bikeway surfaces that can be built over tree roots, avoiding harm to the tree. He co-chairs the Bike/Ped Council of New Jersey, which is working on a safe-passing law.  He starts his new job Monday, September 22.

Bike Philly Wrap-Up

Jeff Hartman, who drove SAG for the ride, said that feedback he got was generally good.  Susan Dannenberg rode.  She said there was some confusion at MLK Drive where to be coming back into Center City.  More marshals are needed.  The signage where the 20 mile ride separated from the 35 mile ride could be better.   Comments from others: there were fewer complaints this year. There were 3100 paid riders.  The police did not want to consider an alternate route this year, or add streets.

Pro Walk/Pro Bike

John and Charles attended.  Pennsylvania and New Jersey were not well represented.  There was a lot of research from Portland, Oregon. John’s favorite study had to do with GPS receivers on bikes recording trips, looking for things like: are cyclists using the bike network?  Women were oversampled.  The study found that people were going out of their way to use bike boulevards vs. bike lanes; women did this more than men. Other presentations showed an improved approach to bike safety which goes beyond BLOS (Bicycle Level of Service),  Bicycle zones are part of BCI, and it is more context-specific: it calls for different solutions for different neighborhoods. this improved approach is called Bicycle Compatibility Index (BCI).

Bike Parking Update

A report written by Sarah Clark Stewart was distributed.  See report.

Bike Sharing Update

At Bike Philly Philly Mayor Nutter announced that the City and the William Penn Foundation are beginning a Bike Sharing feasibility study.  Friday, September 19 is National Parking Day.   This event began in San Francisco.  On the day, people choose a parking space, feed the meter for a day, and turn the parking spot into an alternative space, like a mini-park.  Over 50 cities now participate.  Philly Car Share and Fuji Bikes are working with Russell to use one spot in Center City and one in West Philadelphia to provide free bikes as a demonstration in bike sharing.  On Thursday, September 18, there will be an Urban Sustainability forum at the Academy of Natural Sciences.

South Street Bridge

The contract for the bridge will be let as written, then amendments will be made. According to the South Street Bridge Coalition, the agreed-to amendments will be (I took the liberty of cutting and pasting from their missive sent out 9/18/08, two days after this meeting):

• Vehicle Lane Design – A four-lane traffic design will replacethe five-lane design.
• Crosswalk at Schuylkill River Park – An additional crosswalk with a pedestrian activated traffic signal will be added at the ramp and stair from the Bridge down to the Schuylkill River Park. The traffic signal will be portal mounted above the roadway.
• The curb ramps at this crosswalk will be widened to 6-ft. on both sides of the Bridge to allow multiple bicyclists to simultaneously cross and access the bicycle lanes.
• Speed Limit – The posted speed limit for the entire Bridge and viaduct will be reduced to 25 MPH.
• Bicycle Lanes – Bicycle lanes have been widened as a result of the reduction in the number of vehicle lanes.
• Advanced Bicycle Stop Bars – Bicycle stop bars will be advanced to allow bicyclists to get ahead of motorists for greater visibility and safety.
• Lighting – Pedestrian style lights will be installed. The majority of the bridge lighting will be sidewalk mounted at the curb.
• All light standards will include mounting brackets for future banner placement.

Old and New Business

John will generate a map and ride cue sheet for the parade to Gihon’s memorial service on September 28 at bikely.org.

Next Meeting

Tuesday October 21  6:30 PM at the Sky Room of the Free Library 19th and Vine adjacent to the Ben Franklin Parkway.