Share the Road campaign elicits tickets, complaints

When fifth year medical student Alex Wang was riding his bicycle down Locust Walk a few weeks ago, he was hit with a surprise. And in his mind -- with a student's budget to consider -- it was an expensive one.

Wang received one of 51 tickets that have been issued to cyclists since May 16th on the 3400 and 3600 blocks of Locust and Walnut streets. The $49 citation includes a fine for riding on the sidewalk and associated court costs.

"Parking tickets are less than that," Wang wrote in an e-mail. "My bike is only worth less than $100."

The recent ticketing wave comes in the wake of the initiation of the second phase of Philadelphia's Share the Road campaign. Launched last January with a press conference and demonstrations, the program is an educational effort aimed at spreading awareness about bicycle safety.

Share the Road targets both motorists and cyclists for violations including riding bicycles on sidewalks, crowding or driving in bike lanes and other related violations.

Though motorists and cyclists initially just received warnings, offenders are now served with citations.

And while many like Wang are unhappy about the tickets, police are optimistic about the safety campaign.

"Overall the reaction has been positive," University Police Deputy Chief of Operations Michael Fink said.

"We're choosing to issue the least expensive of the tickets," Fink added, noting that the city code stipulates a less expensive fine for riding on the sidewalks than the state code does. "It's a $98.50 violation of the Pennsylvania vehicle code otherwise," he said.

Yet in the opinion of Psychology Professor and avid cyclist Saul Sternberg, even the $49 ticket is unreasonable.

"My feeling is that that's punitive for students -- it's extreme," Sternberg said of the fine. Sternberg also added that the new measures and fines could deter people from cycling.

Wang, who reported never having received a warning this past spring, expressed a similar sentiment.

"I feel discouraged [from] using bicycles," he wrote. The "University needs to create better conditions."

Arguing that University City conditions contradict the new measures, Sternberg commented that sidewalks are safer for cyclists because bike lanes are often obstructed by delivery trucks.

"There's a conflict between wanting these commercial establishments and having a bike lane," he said. "There hasn't been enough imagination to think about the implications of cyclists in the road."

Nevertheless, "most cyclists, after discussions with officers, understand the reasons behind [the tickets]," Fink added, a testament to the fact that the program's goals -- safe riding and driving -- are hard to disagree with.

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