According to a recent report from the Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition, Philly is now the bike-commutingest big city in the U.S., with the most people riding to work per capita of any of the nation’s ten largest cities.
![](http://usa.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2011/05/biking-blockage-4-2010-2-300x225.jpg)
Just weeks after the city’s bike progress made headlines, a city councilman has introduced legislation that could bog down further bike projects in politics and bureaucracy. Councilman William Greenlee wants to make every new bike lane in Philadelphia subject to a City Council vote.
Network blog Plan Philly reports:
Requiring City Council approval of all new bike lanes is bad policy because: It will delay making our streets safer. Motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists have all benefited from the 46% reduction in serious car crashes on Spruce and Pine streets since the new bike lanes were installed. (While the cost to motorist convenience has been tiny: a 2 mph reduction in average speed.) No City Council approval is needed for new vehicular travel lanes, crosswalks or bus stops.
“We’re #1 in big city bicycle commuting,” said [Bike Coalition] Executive Director Alex Doty. “Do we really want to be #1 in bike lane bureaucracy?”