Philadelphia

Philly Road Safety Advocates Call for Action From the City
Mayor Parker’s administration is proposing massive cuts to the city’s Vision Zero program while pedestrian and cyclist deaths remain high.

Philadelphia: An Urban Planner's Guide to the City
One of the nation’s oldest cities, Philadelphia boasts a rich history and a walkable, compact central grid built around public plazas.

Philadelphia’s Speed Cameras Are Working
Speeding violations plummeted after automated enforcement cameras were installed along Roosevelt Boulevard.

Philly Mayor Proposes Major Cuts to Vision Zero
Despite promises to make the city’s roadways safer for pedestrians and cyclists, the proposed budget slashes Vision Zero funding nearly in half.

Philly Free Transit Pilot Clocks 1.8 Million Rides
A two-year pilot program from SEPTA offers free fares to 25,000 low-income riders.

How Transit Architecture Impacts Real and Perceived Safety
More than a third of Americans believe major transit systems are too unsafe to ride. The built environment can change that.

New Philly Fare Gates ‘Astonishingly Easy to Beat’
A set of high-tech gates aimed at limiting fare evasion is already failing.

Reimagining a Major Philly Street for People, Not Cars
The Ben Franklin Parkway was originally designed as a bucolic escape from the city. It could be that way again.

Video: A ‘European-Style’ Street in Philadelphia
With its narrow lanes and mature trees, Philadelphia’s Quince Street illustrates what’s possible.

How Effective are Philadelphia’s Keystone Opportunity Zones?
The impacts of a tax break designed to create jobs, stimulate development, and reduce blight are proving hard to track.

The Messy Politics of Saving Lives from Drug Overdoses
Philadelphia was on the verge of approving a key harm reduction strategy to prevent fatal drug overdoses until the city council all but banned supervised injection sites, overriding a mayoral veto. A New York Times report explores the controversy.

Philadelphia Bus Cameras Document Over 30,000 Violations
A pilot program tested AI-powered cameras that monitored bus-only lanes for parked vehicles.

Philadelphia Traffic Calming Initiative Pays Off
City officials say serious crashes are down by 34 percent on streets that were the target of Complete Streets projects.

Philadelphia Moves to Improve Paratransit Services
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s partnership with a technology provider will boost the system’s paratransit and microtransit services to improve access and accessibility.

Identifying Park Inequities Through Data Science
Researchers used a machine learning algorithm to analyze over 200 parks in Philadelphia, revealing insights about differences in access to quality parks.

Philadelphia Continues Traffic Calming Program
The city is installing ‘vertical deflection devices’ such as speed tables on some of its most dangerous streets.

A Data-Driven Approach to ‘Playspace Inequity’
Mapping playgrounds and their conditions can reveal how childhood play opportunities are inequitably distributed within cities.

Philly Waterfront Park Breaks Ground
Penn’s Landing is an ambitious redesign of 11.5 waterfront acres.

The Bus Revolution Has Been Revised in Philadelphia
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority went back to the drawing board with its Bus Revolution system redesign after an initial round of feedback completed earlier this year.

Retro Trolleys Returning to Philadelphia
The freshly restored vintage fleet will maintain service frequency on Route 15 before eventually being replaced by newer models.
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