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PPA issued 11,000 tickets for street sweeping and bike lane parking violations in its first week of enforcement

Parking in a bike lane can result in a $76 ticket in Center City and University City, and $51 in other areas. Tickets for blocking a street sweeping route run $31.

A bicyclist weaving into traffic to avoid a parked van in the bike lane on on Pine Street. Drivers will now be ticketed for parking in bike lanes.
A bicyclist weaving into traffic to avoid a parked van in the bike lane on on Pine Street. Drivers will now be ticketed for parking in bike lanes.Read moreDavid Swanson

In the first week it started cracking down on vehicles blocking bike lanes and street sweeping routes, the Philadelphia Parking Authority issued thousands of tickets that generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.

» READ MORE: Cars will now be ticketed for parking on street sweeping routes and in bike lanes

The PPA has issued 11,334 tickets for street cleaning violations alone in the first week of enforcement, agency spokesperson Marty O’Rourke said. Another 91 tickets were issued for bike lane violations.

Tickets for blocking a street sweeping route run $31. In total, tickets for that violation generated $351,354 in revenue last week.

Parking in a bike lane can result in a $76 ticket in Center City and University City, and $51 in other areas. In all, bike lane parking violations generated $6,016 in revenue during the first week of enforcement.

Combined, the two efforts resulted in the issuing of $357,270 worth of fines last week.

Enforcement for the two programs began last Monday. Previously, the PPA issued warnings to vehicles parked on streets in areas of the city where street cleaning was taking place. As part of the street sweeping program, parking is restricted on both sides of the street in order to allow street sweeping machines to reach both curb lines.

Last Monday also marked the rollout of the PPA’s Bicycle Lane Enforcement Unit, an eight-officer patrol unit that looks for violations in Center City, University, and South Philadelphia. While it’s always been illegal to park in or block a bike lane, the PPA did not have an active program to combat the practice.

The PPA’s bike lane enforcement unit aims to encourage compliance with bike lane regulations and improve public safety for cyclists. Since 2014, the PPA has issued more than 25,000 tickets for bike lane safety violations. And since 2011, 45 bicyclists have been killed in Philadelphia, and 135 have been injured, the PPA said in a statement.