RESULTS FROM THE PILOT TEST

ADDING A BIKE LANE ON 13TH STREET BY REMOVING ONE MOTOR VEHICLE LANE
Mayors Office of Transportation & Utilities November 2, 2011 Presented at the University of the Arts
Number of motor vehicles at peak hours 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 Walnut Morning Peak Walnut All Peaks Market Evening Peak Market All Peaks Arch Evening Peak Arch All Peaks
447 382 344 440 421 619 576 512 471 439 440 524

Motor vehicle traffic on 13th Street during peak hours decreased slightly at Walnut Street and Market Street. Traffic increased slightly at Arch Street.
Pre Pilot Pilot

Typical motor vehicle speeds changed little following the introduction of the bike lanes.
Pre Pilot Pilot

PROJECT GOALS
Miles per hour

30 25
24 22 24

Provide north-south bike lanes through Center City Discourage cyclists use of sidewalks Calm motor vehicle traffic

20
19

20 19

15 10 5

15 14

Museums

Jobs Shopping Performing Arts Tourism

Locust to Walnut Median Speed

Callowhill to Noble Median Speed

Locust to Walnut 85th Percentile

Callowhill to Noble 85th Percentile

24 hour weekday motor vehicle traffic decreased slightly between Locust and Walnut Streets. It remained the same between Callowhill and Noble.
Pre Pilot Pilot

24 hour motor vehicle count

Queue lengths on 13th Street increased and decreased, but vehicles can typically pass through in one signal phase
Pre Pilot Maximum number of motor vehicles waiting when light turns from red to green 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 Walnut St Walnut St Market St Morning Peak Average All Evening Peak Peaks Market St All Peaks Arch St Evening Peak Arch St All Peaks Pilot

7,000 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 Locust to Walnut Weekday Callowhill to Noble Weekday
4,383 4,435 6,451 5,722

PROBLEM
Philadelphia has an: Active bicycling community Extensive bicycle network But the bicycle network has few extensions into Center City where trips start or end Narrow, congested streets have made the provision of bike lanes or other accommodations difficult

Bikes now account for nearly a quarter of traffic during the morning peak at Walnut Street.
Pre Pilot
25%

Pilot

Bikes as percent of total traffic

23% 20%

North-South Pilot Project

Provide bike lanes on 10th and 13th streets by removing a traffic lane What impact would lane reduction have on motor vehicle traffic? Volume Speed Delay Peak Speeds
13th

RECOMMENDATIONS
Street Bicycle Lane Should Remain Revise striping at Market Street to provide stacking area for left and right turns Move SEPTA lay-over location to north side of Market Street Consider eliminating two parking spaces at Walnut Street to allow left turn stacking Extend bike lane north to Spring Garden Street Reduce conflicts caused by taxi queue south of Filbert Street

15%

16%

10% 9% 10% 10% 10%

11%

8% 7% 5% 4% 7% 6%

0%

Walnut Morning Peak

Walnut All Peaks

Market Noon Peak

Market All Peaks

Arch Morning Peak

Arch All Peaks