National Park(ing) Day, sponsored by the Trust for Public Land, is an annual, one-day event during which designers, activists, artists, and citizens temporarily take the inherent potential of a metered parking space and transform it into a public space or park with a purpose. On September 19, 2008, 25 cities nationwide (including Philadelphia for the first time) hosted Park(ing) Day.
Interface Studio brought The Vacation Lane to Park(ing) Day Philadelphia, inviting passersby to come take a ride with us in a super-wide, luxurious bicycle lane made possible by the removal of a lane of on-street parking spaces. Those interested were encouraged to hop on the bike* to experience a simulation of what riding Philly’s streets would be like in a world free of common cycling threats – getting doored, dodging buses, treacherous trolley tracks, and aggressive or oblivious drivers.
In The Vacation Lane, riders had the space and freedom to sit back and relax, daydream, enjoy the surrounding street life, and notice the details in the urban landscape that those traveling in cars at faster speeds cannot. While people pedaled, we asked them to ponder: what if some of Philly’s on-street parking lanes became extra-wide bike lanes during commute hours?
* The bicycle was attached to a bicycle generator powering a looping slide show and fantastic luau music from the 1960s.
