SEPTA will participate in National Bike to Work Day with the University of Pennsylvania tomorrow, May 19 from 7:30 to 9:30 am The event is in celebration of National Bike Month and will be held at the Penn Museum Indego Bike Share Station, 3260 South Street. This location is one of the designated Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia’s “Energizer Stations.”
The event will highlight SEPTA’s Cycle-Transit Plan (https://planning.septa.org/sustainability/pdf/cycletransitplan15.pdf), which addresses the increasing demand for “cycle-transit” use in the region and the plan is designed to better integrate the transit and bicycle networks.
“The implementation of this plan will help to make cycle-transit use an attractive mobility alternative,” said SEPTA General Manager Jeffrey D. Knueppel. “A growing number of SEPTA riders use bicycles to fill the first-and-last mile commuting gap between their homes and the closest SEPTA station. We have implemented a number of initiatives to make the system more convenient for bicyclists, and will continue with these and other efforts moving forward.”
Currently, all of SEPTA’s buses and trackless trolleys are equipped with bike racks. By the end of Fiscal Year 2018, the authority anticipates having nearly 900 bike racks at stations throughout the Regional Rail system, the Market-Frankford and Broad Street Lines, as well as along the Norristown High Speed Line and Media/Sharon Hill Lines.
Since 2000, bicycle commuting in Philadelphia has increased more than 300 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Community Survey.
Friday’s event will offer participants the opportunity to enter a raffle to win a new bike from the Bicycle Coalition. The first 50 participants will receive bike lights and there will also be a photo booth and a bike repair station on-site. With UPenn buses having the same bike racks as SEPTA buses there will also be a bus on display to show riders how easy it is to attach their bike to a bus.
SEPTA ambassadors will be on hand with giveaways promoting its sustainability program and the Travel Center @Penn, which recently collaborated with the Penn Bookstore, providing information on SEPTA and offering assistance with all forms of travel in and around Penn’s campus, the City and the Tri-State area.
More information about SEPTA’s bicycle friendly transit system is available at https://planning.septa.org/sustainability/bike-ride-policy.html.
For more information about SEPTA, including schedules and fares, visit www.septa.org.