Program Update
Pedestrian Safety Month Whether you walk, roll, drive, bike, or ride the bus or train, we are all pedestrians at some point in our day. That’s why Vision Zero Philadelphia joined our partners in observing Pedestrian Safety Month this October.
Vision Zero and our partners want to remind you that Halloween is coming up soon, and we want all Philadelphians to be safe trick-or-treating. On average, children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween than on any other day of the year. Popular trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 to 9:30 pm. Drivers should slow down, be alert, and take extra time to look for kids during those hours. For more Halloween safety tips visit: https://www.nhtsa.gov/halloween-safety- tips.
Walk, Bike, & Roll to School Day More than 125 elementary school students, families, and school staff participated in Walk, Bike, & Roll to School Day 2024 on Wednesday, October 9. Philadelphians walked, biked, and rolled in groups to schools across the city. William H. Meredith Elementary School, Edward Gideon School, George W. Nebinger Elementary School, The Penn Alexander School, and Southwark Elementary School all participated. Safe Routes Philly, the City’s youth bicycle and pedestrian safety program in the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems (OTIS), organized Walk, Bike, and Roll to School Day. This was our most attended walk, Bike, and Roll to School Day yet! Partnerships with the following groups made the day a big success:
- School District of Philadelphia,
- The George W. Nebinger School and Parent Teacher Association,
- the William M. Meredith School and Home and School Association,
- the Southwark School,
- the Edward Gideon School,
- the Philadelphia Police Department,
- and the Queen Village Neighborhood Association.
One Meredith student exclaimed “I wish I could do this every day” while riding in the bike bus to Meredith. Safe Routes Philly combines infrastructure improvements with education and encouragement campaigns such as Walk, Bike and Roll to School Day, to ensure all students can enjoy walking, biking and rolling to school every day.
Partner Spotlight: We Walk PHL
We Walk PHL is a free walking group that meets several times per week at various public parks and recreation centers. It is a partnership between Fairmount Park Conservancy, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation. We Walk PHL promotes positive health outcomes, increases the use of Philadelphia’s parks, and creates opportunities for people to pursue fitness goals while meeting their neighbors.
Trained walking group leaders lead the walks one to three days per week at each site. The walks last around an hour. For walk schedules, meeting locations, and other relevant updates, please visit the We Walk PHL public group page on Facebook. You can also find the Fall season schedule here which started on September 1 and runs until October 31 across 29 locations! Don’t miss out.
Public outreach spotlight: Spruce & Pine Open House
Thank you to all those who attended the Spruce and Pine Open House on Thursday, October 17. Over 400 community members attended. You provided critical feedback on the planning and design process for Spruce St. and Pine St., Front St. to S 22nd St. We are grateful for your insights and your patience at the overcapacity meeting. This feedback will help OTIS in developing a new design that is safe and comfortable for all road users.
Coming soon: Vision Zero Annual Report The Vision Zero team is putting the final touches on our Annual Report! The report will cover recent crash trends, recent accomplishments of the Vision Zero Task Force, as well as what the program has in store for the year. The report will be available next month on our website, visionzerophl.com.
Upcoming Events
You’ll see us out in the community this October at the events listed below. Come and say hi!
Northeast Trunk or Treat – (12002 Roosevelt Blvd) Wednesday, October 23, 5:00pm-7:00pm
Memorial Ride and Angel Bike Placement for Jorge André Muñoz Sánchez – (5148 Locust St) Saturday, October 26, 10:30am-12pm
Pedal to the Polls – (system-wide) Tuesday, November 5; Use code VOTE2024 at rideindego.com for two free Single Rides per user.
World Day of Remembrance – (Carroll Park, 5800 W Girard Ave) Sunday, November 17 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Partner Updates
Indego The Indego mini-grant application is now live! Indego and the City of Philadelphia are excited to announce the return of Indego mini-grants, offering up to $1,000 for local nonprofits to support programming between December and February 2025. Learn how to apply and bring your community-focused project to life. https://www.rideindego.com/blog/indego-mini-grant-winter/
Pedal to the Polls is on November 5th! Election Day is fast approaching, and we want to help folks exercise their right to vote by offering two free Single Rides per user! Use code VOTE2024 at rideindego.com to redeem this offer. (Please note, fees apply for rides longer than 30 minutes or for accessing an Indego Electric bike. If you already have an active Indego pass, you will not be able to redeem this offer.)
SEPTA On October 6, SEPTA launched the Smoke and Vape-Free SEPTA media campaign throughout the SEPTA system. The campaign talks to SEPTA riders about the passengers they share their rides with and how smoking can affect each of them differently. These stories showcase how secondhand smoke impacts the underlying health of riders young and old—even touching on how smoking can affect people’s jobs. Smoking remains a significant public health concern and smoking in public spaces, particularly on public transit, poses health risks and discomfort to non-smokers. SEPTA, and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health collaborated to implement a campaign focused on reducing smoking and vaping on public transit to promote a healthier and more pleasant environment for all commuters. For more information, visit: https://wwww.septa.org/info/smoke-free-septa/.
Bicycle Coalition BCGP was in Harrisburg on October 7 participating in lobby day and calling on the legislature to pass critical protected bike lane legislation Harrisburg Lobby Day 10/7: Advocates and Legislators call on the Legislature to legalize life saving bicycle infrastructure. The parking protected bike lane legislation (HB 1283 & SB 1147) is expected to be voted on after October 21 and in the meantime the BCGP has an urgent request, Urgent Action! Parking Protected Bike Lane Bill Update.
CHOP Halloween is coming up soon.On average, children are more than twice as likely to be hit by a car and killed on Halloween than on any other day of the year! Popular trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. so be especially alert for kids during those hours. Drivers should slow down and take extra time to look for kids. Kids should make sure to walk on sidewalks and paths when possible and to cross the street at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks. For more pedestrian safety information visit: https://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/injury-prevention-program/pedestrian-safety
On average, a pedestrian was killed every 70 minutes and injured every eight (8) minutes in traffic crashes in 2022. During National Pedestrian Safety Month, remind young, novice drivers to drive slowly in school zones and to scan the road carefully at all times. Learn more from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia experts: https://ow.ly/AIwM50Txv2u
National Teen Driver Safety Week is here and runs through Saturday, October 26! Join teens, parents, advocates, and policymakers in raising awareness of and creating solutions for reducing teen crash risk. Learn how to get involved: https://ow.ly/EGHf50TwINJ
Vision Zero In The News
Philadelphia
Philly to begin bike lane safety meetings for Spruce and Pine corridor (Billy Penn)
Need a job? Philadelphia looking to fill 140 crossing guard positions (Fox 29 Philadelphia)
Council president Kenyatta Johnson introduced legislation that prohibits vehicles from stopping or standing in any bike lane throughout Philadelphia (City Council Philadelphia)
How Philadelphia cut crashes on one of its most dangerous roads (Smart Cities Dive)
Cyclists welcome proposed bike lane changes in Center City, but neighbors voice concerns (KYW Newsradio)
National & Global
Vision Zero Reporting: How I built a natural-language processing tool to improve media coverage of car crashes (Vision Zero Cities Journal)
Join the Conversation
Vision Zero aims to eliminate all traffic deaths and severe injuries on Philadelphia street www.visionzerophl.com. Follow OTIS on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and help us to share safety messages with your networks using the hashtag #VisionZeroPHL.
Do you have events, accomplishments, or calls to action to share with the Vision Zero Task Force and subcommittees? Send your next month’s updates by Friday, November 8th to Virginia Lynn at virginia.lynn@phila.gov.