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The New Philadelphia Bicycle Maps

The City of Philadelphia is developing a city-wide network of ``bike friendly" streets to serve bicyclists as part of a comprehensive programwhich gives full recognition to the bicycle as a viable mode of transportation. One mechanism for achieving this is through our $3.7 million, federally funded, Bicycle Network Plan.

Philadelphia is committed to the promotion of bicycle use in the city. Beginning with the establishment of the Mayor's Task Force on Bicycle Safety in 1993, through the annual city employees' Bike-to-Work Day, improvements to the Schuylkill River bike paths, and links to the Valley Forge Bikeway, the establishment of the Bicycle Network Plan will add a new dimension to Philadelphia's transportation system.

For further information on the Bicycle Network Plan you may contact:

Deborah Schaaf
Philadelphia City Planning Commission
Chair, Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Task Force
debby.schaaf@phila.gov

The bicycle network routes will be designed to accommodate commuter and recreational cyclists by creating linkages to major sites related to employment, recreation, culture and tourism, retail, and institutional uses, as well as to provide connections to existing and proposed bicycle routes in the counties bordering Philadelphia. The network will encourage automobile trip reduction by providing planned access to an alternative means of transportation. The goals of the Network Plan are to increase the percentage of trips made by bicycle to 5% of all trips, and to simultaneously reduce by 10% the number of bicyclists killed or injured in traffic accidents. The Network Plan will provide a bicycle transportation system that is physically integrated with on-street traffic. The bicycle routes will be on existing streets that require only simple treatments such as signing and pavement markings to better accommodate bicyclists, as well as on streets where various physical constraints will need to be addressed. The City has hired a design consultant to assist in the Network Plan's creation. The consultant's tasks include bicycle traffic generator identification; bike/traffic counts; travel pattern reviews; bicycle route, parking, and storage analyses; a public information and awareness campaign; and the design of the beginnings of the city-wide bicycle route network which will eventually include 300 miles of city streets. The consultant will also be producing a video to be used for the public information and awareness campaign, as well as a bike route map for the entire city.