Dozens of cyclists and pedestrians die in Philly yearly – an injury epidemiologist explains learn how to higher protect bike lanes, slow drivers and reduce collisions

Over 60 pedestrians and cyclists were killed yearly in Philadelphia for the past few years.

Compared to other major cities, Philadelphia is Death rate for each pedestrians And Cyclist is higher than New York and Chicago, but lower than Los Angeles and Houston.

More pedestrians and cyclists are being killed or seriously injured within the United States today than ever before during the last 40 years. Over 7,500 pedestrians and over 1,100 cyclists died in traffic accidents in 2022, essentially the most recent yr with available data, in keeping with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

As an injury epidemiologist in Philadelphia studying Injuries to pedestrians and cyclists within the United States and Latin AmericaI would like to share several evidence-based ways Philadelphia could make walking, biking, and getting around town safer for everybody.

Protect cycle paths

Protected cycle paths have physical barriers to forestall riders from entering the bike lane to park or pass other riders.

They are particularly suitable for cycle paths with high traffic volumes and offer cyclists significantly more protection than simply painted lanes without physical barriers or lanes with flexible posts that could be driven over.

Flexible posts, for instance, were unable to avert the fatal collision Barbara Friedessenior pediatric resident at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, in Center City in July 2024, as a Drunk driver raced across the bike path where Peace was cycling.

Research suggests that protected bike lanes can also improve safety for pedestrians and drivers. This might be because they are likely to cause drivers to decelerate.

The Greater Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition and other local bicycle safety advocacy groups have called on town to achieve this Replace unprotected lanes with protected lanes and likewise establish protected cycle paths on more roads where there are currently none.

In October 2024, town announced the installation Concrete barriers to guard the bike lanes on Spruce and Pine streets in Center City, including the positioning where Friedes was killed. That same month, town council unanimously passed a “Get out of the bike path“Bill that may increase fines for drivers who stop or park in a motorbike lane.

Slow down drivers

Traffic calming measures are engineering and street design strategies that slow vehicles, make pedestrians more visible to drivers, and create safer intersections.

This includes Speed ​​bumps, curb extensions and guarded intersectionsin addition to 20 mph speed zones.

Automated speed enforcement, by which cameras capture the license plates of drivers who drive too fast, has led to this Significant reduction in speeding and serious collisions on Roosevelt Boulevard. The street that runs through North and Northeast Philadelphia has been named probably the most dangerous roads within the country in various analyzes of News And transport Organizations. Based on this success, town is planning Expansion of automated speed monitoring to Broad Street in 2025 and possibly other locations in the long run.

Traffic calming measures can advantages all road users from Reducing traffic congestion This means there are fewer delays for local public transport drivers and passengers. You can do it too Boost nearby businesses from This will increase foot traffic and make store corridors more nice for shoppers.

Encourage fewer cars on the road

Philadelphia can adopt more policies that encourage walking or cycling Run over. This includes open roads or cycle pathsStreets are closed to automobile traffic and opened as much as cyclists and pedestrians. Philadelphia does this occasionally on sections of the route 18th Street and Walnut Street in town center.

Increasingly Parking fees may also reduce traffic jam. General parking fees don’t reflect actual travel costs in cities, which also includes the upkeep of parking spaces and infrastructure. The low parking fees are essentially a Subsidy for drivers. While there are fears that reduced parking will hurt business owners, there is robust evidence to support this Companies profit through increased foot and bicycle traffic.

The city could do it too reduce the variety of parking spaces And Introduce congestion pricingwhat includes Charging fees for driving in certain areas of a city to scale back traffic congestion.

Given recent developments, this could be difficult Experience of New York City, which has been preparing for traffic congestion pricing for many years but then had it blocked by the governor, even though it appears so now has a likelihood to be implemented. How successful New York is with congestion pricing will likely determine its feasibility in Philadelphia and other U.S. cities.

Improve public transportation

Expansion of local public transport And Reduce or eliminate fares may also help Protect pedestrians and cyclists by reducing automobile use. I consider that these measures could help be sure that the opposite measures mentioned above are effective.

However, public transportation in Philadelphia is currently in critical condition. Opposite Financing deficits due to Years with declining passenger numberssuggested the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Service cuts and significant fare increases effective January 1, 2025. Gov. Josh Shapiro has spared the system from these cuts for now Making federal highway funds more flexibleBut long-term solutions are needed to make sure the survival and revitalization of public transportation in Philadelphia.

addressing Gun violence, Drug use And other crimes may also do Make public transportation in Philadelphia safer and more attractive. While violent crimes have occurred on Philadelphia's public transportation system decreased drastically in 2024Four people have died on SEPTA vehicles up to now this yr.

Collect higher data

Given the rise in traffic fatalities in Philly because the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, significant efforts are needed to achieve town's traffic fatality rate Vision Zero goal The goal is to scale back the variety of traffic deaths to zero by 2030.

In my opinion, this also includes higher data about transportation use and which interventions and policies work and which don’t.

Traffic safety monitoring could possibly be improved in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania by linking crash records with other data, similar to hospital and clinical records of crash victims and insurance costs, to higher understand town and state's burden of traffic crashes.

Data can be critical to making sure that public policies are implemented fairly. The Vision Zero plan The focus is on lower-income neighborhoods and people with higher proportions of racial and ethnic minorities. These areas have thrice as many serious injuries and deaths As in other parts of town, traffic accident and death rates are 30% higher for people of color in comparison with whites.