Clean Air Ohio

PHILADELPHIA, PA (June 12, 2026) –  As the Greater Philadelphia region prepares to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors for FIFA World Cup matches and America 250  celebrations, Clean Air Council has launched an interactive digital map to help visitors and residents reach major events without driving. 

This map highlights event locations and shows public transit and biking options, helping you avoid traffic and parking hassles, reduce pollution, and explore Philly car-free. 

The map is hosted on the Clean Air Council’s website at gophillygo.cleanair.org.

“No one wants to spend their summer sitting in traffic and paying for expensive event parking,” said Titania Markland, Clean Air Council Sustainable Transportation Program Manager. “Traveling car-free to the Philadelphia region’s many events this summer is a win for attendee experience, your wallet, and the environment. We are excited to launch GoPhillyGo: Car-Free Routes to make car-free travel planning easy and fun.”

“The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission is pleased to help fund this effort to make traveling around our region without a car this summer, and beyond, a bit easier, for visitors and residents alike,” said Stacy Bartels, Manager of TDM Strategy and Marketing. “Fewer cars on the roads means less traffic congestion and air pollution, which is good for everyone.”

The fun doesn’t stop at summer’s end. Clean Air Council plans to keep the map updated with events and travel information year-round to promote a sustainable, car-free lifestyle. For more information and to access the map, please visit: gophillygo.cleanair.org.

“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.

The FIFA World Cup is here! Learn how you can get around to major summer 2026 events without a car, or being stuck in traffic with GoPhillyGo: Car-Free Routes Map!

The Inquirer: Philly has a new law to boost development around transit. Which neighborhoods will benefit? – City Council has approved a bill to incentivize denser and taller development around Philadelphia transit stations. City Council expanded the existing housing agenda to a quarter-mile radius around SEPTA rail, intercity bus stations, PATCO, water taxi, and some bus or trolley stops. However, the unique caveat making it different from other cities is that City Council must opt stations into the transit-oriented development policies. West Philadelphia representatives have opted in most Market Frankford Line stations, but no stops on the Broad Street Line have yet to be included. Factors making this difficult include different representative districts on the same transit lines and other political disagreements.

NBC Philadelphia: Safety, accessibility upgrades debut in along Market Street in Philly’s Old City – Ahead of the 250th celebrations in the city this summer, Market Street between 2nd and 6th has completed safety and accessibility improvements. Upgrades include new traffic and pedestrian signals, wider sidewalks, protected bike lanes, and accessible curb ramps. Improvements should continue across the city ahead of the 250th celebrations this summer.

BillyPenn: World Cup fans can take a hike — literally. Soccer enthusiasts in Philly can access Lemon Hill fan fest and other sites via trails – Philadelphia will host its first FIFA World Cup game this weekend, with an influx of fans heading to East Fairmount Park’s Lemon Hill. To avoid extreme traffic congestion and parking scarcities, the Circuit Trails Coalition is reminding the public of over 400 miles of trails in the greater Philadelphia area. The Schuylkill River Trail is 120 miles long, and fans can access many World Cup festivities without cars. Find other ways to access summer 2026 events with Clean Air Council’s GoPhillyGo: Car-Free Routes interactive map.

PhillyVoice: With the World Cup set to kick off, SEPTA touts refurbished stations and additional train capacity

The Inquirer: City Council bans horse-drawn carriages in Philadelphia

BillyPenn: First modular shelters arrive for eventual inclusion in Chinatown Stitch cap park

The Inquirer: SEPTA is expanding daily bus service to the Navy Yard by extending Route 45

CBS Pittsburgh: Parkway East will close in 1 month for Commercial Street Bridge replacement project

Anthropocene: A landmark MIT study debunks persistent myths about electric vehicles

PhillyVoice: Walmart plans to bring delivery drones to Philly in 2027

“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.

Are you in the Lehigh Valley area or the Lancaster area? Please take a transit survey from Transit For All PA, to help us better understand transit needs for users in the area. Lehigh Valley survey link and Lancaster area survey link.

Keep Paratransit and Shared-Ride moving by signing onto this organizational letter!

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Advocates push for transit funding for rural, disabled communities as Pa. budget talks build – Transit for All PA! gathered transit advocates, riders, workers, and supporters from across Pennsylvania for a day of action in Harrisburg this week. Speakers called for a new funding model, one that’s more sustainable, secure, and supportive for transit options that cover rural and disabled communities. Shared-ride and paratransit services must be provided due to the Americans with Disabilities Act, but without dedicated funding, these services are slated to disappear in Pennsylvania. Sign on to support Transit For All PA!’s movement here

WHYY: SEPTA board approves budget and bus route changes – The New Bus Network won final approval late last week, with the agency launching new routes and more frequent service throughout Philadelphia. There will be a phased rollout of the new plan in August, with a massive education campaign underway during the summer as well. The agency plans to have staff at 3,000 locations to educate riders about upcoming changes and how it affects them.

WPXI Pittsburgh: Riders urge Pittsburgh Regional Transit to rethink bus line cuts – Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) is being urged by transit advocates to adjust their upcoming bus line cuts. PRT has announced plans to cut 14 routes and add 9 new ones. The plan has received more than 25,000 comments on the draft so far. Advocates say that certain areas are being cut off with this new plan, disproportionately affecting families, low-income residents, and people with disabilities.

Philly Voice: Philly Pride March: Here are the road closures and parking restrictions in place for Sunday

Metro Philadelphia: Philadelphia unveils major highway beautification project ahead of America’s 250th

Philly Voice: Plan to ‘fix’ gridlock at Sports Complex includes AI-powered traffic signals

Grid: Cyclist maps bike path from 30th Street to Atlantic City

CBS Philadelphia: SEPTA reopens long-shuttered South Broad Concourse in Center City Philadelphia

The Inquirer: Philly plans to install 800 electric vehicle chargers in the next 10 years

CBS Philadelphia: Attendees say Open Streets: Midtown Village in Philadelphia should become permanent after first night

“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.

Are you in the Lehigh Valley area or the Lancaster area? Please take a transit survey from Transit For All PA, to help us better understand transit needs for users in the area. Lehigh Valley survey link and Lancaster area survey link.

Keep Paratransit and Shared-Ride moving by signing onto this organizational letter!

Philadelphia Tribune: Opposition builds against school district’s fare evasion program – The proposed fare evasion enforcement program tied to the School District of Philadelphia is being flagged as a system that unfairly punishes students, and could push them into the criminal justice system for just trying to get to school. Transit advocates warn that despite the intention to curb SEPTA revenue losses, this plan is not the best path forward. SEPTA student fare cards are extremely limited in their use, with restrictions based on geography, times of day, and not allowed at all on weekends or summer breaks. Advocates warn that the program will disproportionately target students of color and low-income families, and the solution is to expand transit access and education, rather than punishment.

NBC Philadelphia: SEPTA installs first real-time arrival display at South Philadelphia bus stop – Riders that take the bus at Broad and Oregon are the first to receive a real-time information display, as part of a pilot program by SEPTA. SEPTA said that 9 more devices are to be installed at bus stops and to T, G, D, and M Metro stations. The screens use solar power and e-paper technology, making them visible even in bright sun. They are small enough to be mounted on stop sign poles, and have a text-to-speech bubble, to help low-vision riders. SEPTA is asking for feedback from riders through https://wwww.septa.org/initiatives/better-bus/epaper/.

NBC Philadelphia: Philly’s annual Ride of Silence honors cyclists, calls for safer streets – On Wednesday night, cyclists met at City Hall for the 22nd annual Philly Ride of Silence to honor cyclists killed or injured. 15 cyclists have been killed by motorists in the Delaware Valley region this year alone. Cyclist advocate group Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia has worked with lawmakers and the PPA to expand protected bike lanes, and ticket vehicles that idle in them. The PPA has issued close to 30,000 violations since the enforcement unit was created in 2023. Advocates hope to see further protections for cyclists and pedestrians throughout the city in the near future.

PhillyVoice: Uber escalates ad campaign against Mayor Parker’s $1-per-ride tax as vote looms

BillyPenn: Philly’s 100 Steps restored after a hasty gray paint job sparked outrage

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Those potholes in your street reveal a money problem for cities and states

PhillyVoice: New Hope Railroad now has scenic pedal-bike tours that wind along heritage tracks in Bucks County

The Inquirer: Philly’s airport just lost Spirit Airlines. Another low-cost airline is moving in.

Centre Daily Times: PennDOT highlights $212M in central PA projects. What’s happening in Centre County?

The Inquirer: All-electric Volvos now pull some of the famed tram cars on the Wildwoods boardwalk

Streetsblog USA: America Keeps Building Stadiums Like Transit Doesn’t Matter

(May 22, 2026) — Last Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) released its final large load model tariff that guides utility companies on how to handle large data centers. Hyperscale data centers will consume unprecedently large amounts of electricity, which makes them “large load” customers for utility companies. 

This anticipated high electricity consumption is driving the need for significant grid upgrades and increasing energy demand, both of which raise energy costs for everyone. This PUC policy is a critical first step toward better protecting Pennsylvanians from shouldering the cost of large-scale data center development.  

At a time when our lawmakers are scrambling to catch up to data center growth and energy demand, the PUC’s forward-thinking policy outlines certain standards that, if adopted by utilities, can improve transparency, better support low-income customers, and prevent infrastructure costs incurred for data centers from shifting onto everyday residents and small businesses.

These guidelines are an important step, but the PUC failed to act on key clean energy and reliability issues in this policy. Pennsylvania is at a crossroads where, without proper policy and regulations, data center buildout will create more fossil fuel generation, and lock in a future of environmental, climate, and public health harms. 

Despite this, the PUC evaded any recommendation for data centers to bring their own clean energy sources online, which would both improve grid reliability and avoid emitting pollution. Similarly, the PUC failed to address whether data centers should interrupt or reduce their energy usage during periods of high energy demand. 

The PUC does not yet have the authority to directly regulate data centers and set binding requirements, so these guidelines are only effective if the utilities choose to adopt them in their future rate proceedings. Currently, there is proposed legislation that, if passed, would direct the PUC to create binding regulations for data centers. 

“Pennsylvanians are already paying for data center buildout through increased energy costs,” Alex Bomstein, Executive Director of Clean Air Council, said. “Until our decisionmakers take real, binding steps toward strong regulations on data centers, Pennsylvanians will continue to bear the burden of rising energy costs.”

Bomstein pointed out that the PUC’s large load model tariff sets a floor for how utility companies should think about their requirements to ensure data centers pay their fair share, but it misses the opportunity to provide guidance on the importance of clean energy in this conversation. 

“It is critical that lawmakers and regulators act swiftly to build on this foundation and pass policies that will provide meaningful protections from rising energy costs due to data centers,” Bomstein said.