‘It doesn’t feel safe’: Philly advocates say report misrepresents pedestrian safety in the city

Have a question about Philly’s neighborhoods or the systems that shape them? PlanPhilly reporters want to hear from you! Ask us a question or send us a story idea you think we should cover.

A new national report finds that Philadelphia is “by far” the safest city in the country for pedestrians. The conclusion released by Forbes Advisor has local traffic safety advocates scratching their heads.

Published earlier this month, the report is rooted in data from 2022. That year, 1.18 pedestrians were killed in crashes for every 100,000 residents. The city also had the fewest deaths from crashes involving pedestrians, fatal crashes involving a pedestrian and persons involved in fatal crashes that involved a pedestrian.

“For a large city like Philly, it suffers from a lot less pedestrian deaths than similarly sized cities. With an average of 18.4 pedestrian deaths a year in a city of over 1.5 million, this helped rank it as a much safer city than some others,” said Mary Kate Mackin, a spokesperson for Forbes Advisor, in a statement.

The report comes as traffic safety advocates push for concrete barriers to be installed along bike lanes across the city, as well as increased funding for Vision Zero Philadelphia, a citywide initiative launched by Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration to eliminate all traffic-related deaths and severe injuries in Philadelphia. Mayor Cherelle Parker’s first budget cut the program’s budget from $2.5 million a year to $1 million.

The demands followed the fatal crash that killed pediatric doctor Barbara Friedes last month while the 30-year-old was cycling in a dedicated bike lane near Rittenhouse Square.

Friedes, who worked at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, was the first cyclist to be killed in 2024. But advocates say her death is part of a broader traffic safety crisis that the city continues to experience — a reality advocates say is not captured by the Forbes report.

“A lot of what these studies find is the quantitative, statistical, just general fact. But it’s not taking into consideration the quality of the experience on the ground. It also doesn’t have anything to say about equity or distribution of safety,” said Katrina Johnston–Zimmerman, an urban anthropologist who sits on the steering committee for 5th Square.

At least 70 people have died in traffic crashes so far this year, according to the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. Nearly half of them were pedestrians.

And while the total number of traffic deaths is on the decline, the rate of pedestrian deaths is still above the rate recorded in 2019 — the last year before traffic fatalities spiked in Philadelphia and across the country. It’s why Chris Gale, executive director of the bicycle coalition, said the Forbes report paints the wrong picture about pedestrian safety in Philadelphia.

“Even if the numbers are bearing that out, that’s absolutely not what people are feeling on the street. And we’re hearing that time and time again. On the street, it doesn’t feel safe,” said Gale.

According to Forbes, Boston is the most dangerous city in the country for pedestrians. Nearly seven pedestrians were killed per 100,000 residents.