SHARE THE ROAD IN UNIVERSITY CITY, PHILADELPHIA

The University City area of Philadelphia is a dense urban environment buzzing with cars, trucks, buses, bicyclists and pedestrians, where conflicts and crashes are frequent. That's what led to the selection of this portion of the city as one of the Share the Road corridors. The commitment of the University of Pennsylvania administration and police department, the University City District and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has made this the most visible effort of the Share the Road Campaign.

The campaign kicked off on January 17, 2003, with a media event at which the University of Pennsylvania police launched their informational stop campaign. The event was covered by WB-17, Fox-29, the Daily Pennsylvanian, the Weekly Press, Penn Almanac, and the City Paper. University police spent much of the Spring of 2003 distributing Share the Road flyers to students riding their bicycles on sidewalks and to motorists driving in bike lanes. An enforcement campaign began in May 2003 with two bicycle officers assigned to an intersection for one to two hours at a time to stop bicyclists and motorists violating traffic laws.

More than 2,000 warnings have been issued to bicyclists, and hundreds of warnings given to motorists. In addition, police have begun distributing Share the Road brochures to every vehicle stopped (regardless of the reason), and have worked with University-owned parking lots to distribute flyers to drivers. In total, police have estimated that more than 10,000 flyers have been distributed. Educational stops, to be followed by enforcement, have begun in earnest again with the beginning of fall semester classes. In addition, delivery trucks that block bike lanes are a concern, particularly in the 3400 and 3700 blocks of Walnut, and the 3700 block of Spruce. These areas have been targeted for enforcement.

The University City project will also include other educational efforts, such as offering a short course on urban biking skills; distributing Share the Road information to motorists in University City parking lots and garages; developing website and video tools; ongoing media outreach; and coordinating events with other groups and organizations.

It is hoped that a successful campaign here will change the behavior of both cyclists and motorists, resulting in more comfortable and convenient travel by bike and foot.

VALET BICYCLE PARKING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia together with Neighborhood Bike Works and the Wharton School, has organized a valet bicycle parking service on the University of Pennsylvania campus. This service is designed to offset the threat of bicycle theft by providing a supervised parking area for bikes during the day. If you work at or near the Penn campus, plan to come by the valet parking station located on the plaza behind the Graduate School of Education on Walnut Street between 37th and 38th Streets. Here's how it works:

Whether you are traveling on Locust Walk or on Walnut Street, follow the "Valet Bike Parking" signs to the valet parking station. At the site, you will be issued a claim check for your bike. While you are away, your bike will be watched by an attendant from Neighborhood Bike Works. At the end of the day, simply present your claim check to collect your bike. No hassle; no worries! And did we mention that this service is free?

The service was available from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., August 5-25, 2003. The Bicycle Coalition wants to use this as a demonstration project to convince Penn and Drexel to build a permanent valet bike station in University City.

For more information, contact Parker Snowe.