PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Aggressive bike lane enforcement is now underway with the launch of a new Philadelphia Parking Authority initiative on Monday. A new dedicated team of eight PPA bike patrol officers are out on city streets issuing tickets to drivers who block bike lanes.
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PPA Executive Director Rich Lazer said the goal is to keep bike lanes open and free for travel.
“They’re going to where there is a large concentration of bike lanes — in South Philadelphia, Center City and University,” Lazer said. “They’ll be monitoring to make sure that nobody is parking in the lanes, contractor issues of people leaving their trucks there all day while they work.”
Violators will be issued a $76 ticket in Center City and University City, and a $51 ticket in outlying areas of South Philadelphia, he said. The PPA expects to eventually expand the program to other parts of the city.
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is applauding the initiative.
“May is bike month, and to have the Parking Authority put on this new inaugural bike class to patrol our bike lanes and to keep them open and safe for bicyclists is just fantastic,” said Sarah Clark Stuart, executive director of the nonprofit.
Paola of Old City said she rides her bike through Center City every day. She was happy to hear that the new PPA bike patrol is out issuing tickets to drivers who park in bicycle lanes.
“I think it’s amazing,” she said.
“We are part of the traffic and also we do not have protection like they do inside of a car. We are just on a bike, and we can easily fall and hurt ourselves.”
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Parking in bike lanes has long been illegal, but there hasn’t been a formal enforcement strategy until now.
“Since 2011, 45 bicyclists have been killed in auto accidents here in the city of Philadelphia. We have had over 135 injuries,” Lazer said. “I think it’s an extremely important program to make sure that we protect our bicycle riders.”
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