In the coming years, increased bicycle connections, amenities and parking will be coming to transit stops across the Greater Philadelphia Region. If the
Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has its way, which stops get what will be entirely up to you, the avid cyclist or bicycle enthusiast, to help
SEPTA,
PATCO, and
NJ Transit prioritize their finite resources.
Thanks to
Open Plans, the Bicycle Coalition recently created a crowdsource map that asks the general public to recommend which transit stops across Philly need better bike facilities.
The goal is noble: encourage people to bike to transit, park their bike, and then continue onto their final commuting destination. The method is simple:
visit this map and offer your opinion on which transit stops need better bike facilities. The feedback is critical: the more data the map receives, the more accurate the results will be and the more likely commuters will utilize the new amenities.
The crowdsource map is part of a larger, more regional effort to increase trails to transit commuting. According to Sarah Stuart, the Policy Director with the Bicycle Coalition, the group has been talking with SEPTA for some time about improving bike facilities at transit stops. “This has been an ongoing conversation,” says Stuart, “but the challenges have been figuring out where to implement the improvements and how to better connect people to them.”
With these unanswered questions lingering, SEPTA began collaborating with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (
DVRPC) to conduct a ‘Trails to Transit’ study. Stuart says once this partnership was forged, the Coalition put the two groups in contact with Open Plans, a group she was familiar with through their successful bike share crowdsource maps.
“I was familiar with Open Plans’ crowdsourcing efforts around bike sharing locations in Philly and New York and thought a similar effort could be conducted for the ‘Trails to Transit’ study.”
Stuart says DVPRC was on board with the idea, but asked that PATCO and NJ Transit be included in the effort. Stuart agreed, Open Plans signed on, and the map was born. Collaboration at its finest.
From here, Stuart says the DVRPC will gather the map’s data, analyze it, and add it to a number of contributing factors to determine which transit stops receive bicycle parking and where trails/bike lane gaps can be filled. This will then inform the three transit agencies about how to allocate their resources in implementing transit stop amenities.
Stuart also sees broader implications for the Coalition as well. “Through all of this data, something we will also have access to, the Coalition will gain a better understanding on how to better advocate for improved bicycle infrastructure for quite some time.”
The map will be up until Dec. 1, 2012 so be sure to
visit the map and advocate for better bicycle infrastructure where you see fit.
Source: Sarah Stuart, Policy Director, Bicycle Coalition
Writer:
Greg Meckstroth