Love Philly? So do we. Let’s be friends. Sign up for the Billy Penn newsletter today.
Philadelphia City Council is moving to expand loading zones across Center City, even as a lawsuit stalls plans for protected bike lanes on Spruce and Pine streets.
A council committee on Monday advanced legislation that would allow the Streets Department to create loading zones for delivery trucks and other vehicles throughout Center City without needing council approval each time.
Similar legislation passed last year, but the new bill adds areas that are within Councilmember Jeffery Young’s 5th District. It will now move to the full council for possible final approval in the coming months.
The committee also advanced bills that would expand the use of camera-monitored smart loading zones in Center City, and create special curbside areas for Uber and Lyft pickups around Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Parking Authority launched the smart loading zones as a pilot program a year ago. They use a camera-based system that charges participating drivers to park for a short time and issues tickets to unauthorized vehicles.
Road safety and bicycling advocates praised the measures, saying they would reduce congestion caused by stopped delivery vehicles, and let cyclists avoid having to swerve out of blocked bike lanes and into car traffic.
“Just the past few years, e-commerce and food-ordering businesses have exploded in popularity and caused tremendous stress in our roads and along our curbs,” testified Miles Owen, co-chair of the 5th Square Advocacy urbanist group. “These bills are absolutely necessary and smart policy to modernize the use of curb space in our city to make roads safer.”
Push for loading zones after fatal crash
Philadelphia has been accelerating the creation of loading zones in Center City for several years in response to the growth of deliveries.
Following the death of cyclist Barbara Friedes in a crash on Spruce Street, in 2025 the city installed loading zone signs along the Spruce/Pine corridor to give drivers an alternative to blocking the bike lane during deliveries. The Parker administration also budgeted funds to install concrete barriers along the lane.
“If you’ve ever ridden a bike in the city, you know how things can go wrong very quickly,” testified Julio Rodriguez, policy director at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. “One moment you’re in the in the bike lane, all of a sudden, a car is right in front of you, and you weave into traffic. You end up in the hospital, or worse.”
The group Friends of Pine and Spruce (FOPS) subsequently sued, arguing the Streets Department could not install loading zones without a council ordinance. Judge Sierra Thomas Street issued a temporary injunction ordering the city to take down the newly installed loading zone signs.
City Council responded by passing a law authorizing loading zones across Center City — with Young’s district excepted at his request — but the judge declined to lift the injunction. A court hearing on the case is scheduled for early June, a Bicycle Coalition spokesperson said.
Young, who chairs the Committee on Streets and Services, signaled Monday that he has lifted his objection to extending the bill to cover the section of his district in Center City.
The judge’s order remains in force, but it does not block the city from installing concrete barriers. However, city officials have indicated they won’t move ahead with the project or even comment on changes to the Spruce and Pine bike lanes until the lawsuit is resolved.
Easing Uber and Lyft pickups
Last year the Philadelphia Parking Authority also launched the new smart loading zones at 22 locations along Chestnut, Sansom and Walnut streets from 12th to 20th streets. They encompass 187 spaces.
To use the zones, drivers have to sign up for a CurbPass account. The camera system reads the license plates of vehicles that use the spots and charges the account holder 10 cents per minute. They can stay for up to an hour.
Vehicles that park in the spaces without accounts are fined $51 after three minutes, and double-parked cars get a $76 fine.
The bill discussed Monday will make the program permanent, and allow the PPA to install more such zones in an area between the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, from Spring Garden Street down to Bainbridge Street.
“The authority has seen that these zones are an effective tool in creating turnover for deliveries of goods and short-term parking for those picking up or dropping off passengers,” said PPA deputy executive director Corinne O’Connor.
The council committee additionally signed off on the bill that would let the PPA create temporary pickup and dropoff spots for rideshare or “transportation network company” (TNC) vehicles, especially in high-traffic areas. O’Connor said the goal is to prevent the cars from double-parking.
“By establishing designated zones in highly congested areas, transportation hubs, or near the sports complex, we can alleviate some congestion and make using a TNC a much easier experience, not only for the riding public, but for the driver,” she said.
Another benefit of having designated spots is that the PPA will be able to list them on its website, she said. So, for example, when a passenger disembarks from a bus at the city’s renovated intercity bus terminal, which is scheduled to reopen this week, they’ll know where to go to grab a rideshare, O’Connor said.
Unauthorized vehicles that park in the spots will be ticketed, she said.
In an unrelated move, Mayor Cherelle Parker has proposed a new $1-per-trip rideshare tax to raise $48 million a year for the school district. The measure faces opposition from Uber and Lyft, and from council members upset over the district’s plan to close 17 schools.
