The Hub 2/25/2022: Clean Air Council’s Weekly Round-up of Transportation News
“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.
Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability (OTIS) will be hosting an in-person public open house on March 1, 2022, at the YMCA at 1724 Christian Street at 6:30 pm. This meeting is to show the finalized Washington Avenue plans before construction begins. The meeting will also be available to be streamed remotely via Facebook.
PhillyVoice: Philadelphia Confronts Mounting Pedestrian Death As Rise In Reckless Driving Hits National Tipping Point – In 2020 Philadelphia’s traffic fatalities including pedestrians spiked approximately 21% over 2019, even though there were fewer cars on the roads due to the pandemic. Other places across the country, including neighboring states New Jersey and New York, had an increasing number of pedestrian fatalities. Experts suggested various reasons for the spike, which include speeding, driving under the influence, larger vehicle models, reckless driving, and an aging population.
The Inquirer: SEPTA Will Borrow $800 Million – An upcoming change in how Pennsylvania pays for aid to transit systems will allow SEPTA to enter its largest bond financing ever; by allowing them to sell up to $800 million in revenue bonds. This will be used to improve infrastructures and replace vehicles. SEPTA “expects to begin selling bonds by the summer” and fares will not increase due to this borrowing.
StreetsBlog USA: Colorado’s Traffic Engineers Walk (And Roll) A Mile In A Pedestrian’s Shoes – Nica Cave rolled in her wheelchair alongside the state transportation engineers, city planners, and youth advocates to show her daily experience traveling car-free. Generally, the streets are not designed for pedestrians and other vulnerable road users, but this organized walk was to draw attention to the dangers people face while walking and rolling along Denver’s streets.
CityLab: How A Philadelphia Road Redesign Went Off The Rails – Washington Avenue is along Philadelphia’s high-injury network and has had a large number of traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Residents and advocates pushed for a safer Washington Avenue, and on 9/1/2020 the city’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability (OTIS) announced a final decision to redesign the road from 5-lanes to 3-lanes after traffic analysis and gaining wide support from a public survey. But earlier this month the city suddenly canceled this option and claimed that the administration did not fulfill equity goals. This decision and announcement caused tension because advocates and residents want a safer Washington Avenue, and the safest option is now off the table.
AXIOS: Free Electric Vehicle Charging Station In Philadelphia – Electric Vehicle (EV) sales increased and made up approximately 9% of global car sales in 2021, and it is expected to increase to 30% by 2025. According to a state report, Philadelphia has a bulk of the registered EVs in Pennsylvania and there are roughly 224 public EV charging stations, and 16 within city limits are free to use.
Image Source: The Inquirer
