By Dianna Marder
Philadelphia Inquirer, May 4, 1997

City Hall Notebook

Center City pedestrians, take heed: You can do something the next timea bike courier nearly runs you down on the sidewalk.

And, you there, in your car/truck/minivan: You, too, have some recoursethe next time you narrowly escape an accident caused by a bike courierdarting through a red light.

There is such a thing as a Pennsylvania motor-vehicle code, and allbikers are required to abide by it: Only children under age 12 are allowedto ride on the sidewalk. And red lights apply to everybody. Disobey andyou risk getting ticketed - just as if you were driving a car.

But how are police or law-abiding citizens supposed to report or ticketerrant bikers if they can't identify them? Now there is an answer.

Thanks to a bill passed by Council last week, bike couriers will berequired to carry photo ID and to display their company name in lettersat least two inches tall.

The bike-courier bill is the latest effort by at-large Councilwomanand transportation advocate Happy Fernandez, who believes everyone hasa right to get around safely.

Getting bikers, pedestrians, motorists and mass-transit users to recognizethat as a common goal has not been easy. Maybe Fernandez should sing themthat song from Oklahoma!, the one about the farmer and the cowboy beingfriends.

A related Fernandez bill is expected to get final approval from Councilthis week. It would repeal the ban on bicycles on the Chestnut Street Transitway.

But take note, ye on two wheels: Riding on the sidewalk there is stilloutlawed, and traffic is still officially one way, west to east.

Councilman W. Thacher Longstreth said he voted in favor of the bike-courierbill with particular zeal.

``It's about time!'' Longstreth, 76, said Friday. ``Those couriers arequite a challenge to elderly citizens like myself.''