Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Philadelphia

Jury Awards “Precedent-Setting” $2.4 Million to Doored Cyclist

By Angie Schmitt | Jun 18, 2014 | 30 Comments

In a decision that local advocates say delivers a “strong message” to drivers, a Philadelphia jury awarded a cyclist $2.4 million in damages earlier this month for injuries she sustained in a 2011 collision. Ashley McKean was seriously injured when a driver doored her and she was then struck from behind by a van driver who […]

Is Philly’s 24-Hour Subway Service the Wave of the Future?

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 18, 2014 | 19 Comments

This weekend, Philadelphia ran subways all night on two of its lines for the first time in 23 years, and ridership jumped. The city normally runs a night-owl bus that mirrors the subway between midnight and 5 a.m., but the early Sunday morning subway ridership this weekend was 35 percent higher than the average for […]

Why the Senate Transportation Bill Will Devastate Transit

By Tanya Snyder | May 22, 2014 | 21 Comments

Transit officials lined up today to make clear that holding transit spending at current levels — as the Senate’s transportation authorization bill does — will put transit systems at risk of falling further into dangerous disrepair. The backlog for transit maintenance and replacement stands “conservatively” at $86 billion, according to the Federal Transit Administration. That […]

Homes in Suburban Philadelphia Are Worth More If They’re Close to Transit

By Angie Schmitt | Oct 10, 2013 | No Comments

Living near a SEPTA station can add as much as $37,300 in value to your suburban Philadelphia home. That’s according to a study by Econsult Solutions Inc., commissioned by the transit agency to analyze sales records for 88,300 single-family homes in the three counties sold between 2005 and 2012. Researchers found that the price premium for […]

Parking Madness: Tulsa vs. Philly [Updated]

By Angie Schmitt | Mar 22, 2013 | 16 Comments

Parking Madness, our hunt for the worst parking crater in an American downtown, continues today with two formidable contenders. In one corner we have Tulsa: Oklahoma’s second largest city, birthplace of the teen sensation Hanson (mmmBOP!), home to nearly 400,000 people. In the other corner, Philadelphia: cradle of democracy, birthplace of the Fresh Prince, and […]

Road Diets Are Changing American Cities for the Better

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 23, 2013 | 8 Comments

If it can work on Edgewater Drive in Orlando, it can work anywhere. This road diet — or “street rightsizing” — removed one traffic lane on a four lane road through 1.5 miles of the city’s College Park neighborhood. Since then, traffic collisions are down 34 percent. Pedestrian activity increased 23 percent and cycling rose […]

Show More Stories