In 2026 Council rewrote the zoning around transit stations: the Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) overlay (Bill 260517), plus companion bills on density bonuses, ground-floor uses, and station uses (260518 to 260520). Within a quarter mile (1,320 feet) of a covered station, lots zoned CMX-1, CMX-2, CMX-2.5, and RM-1 can hold 50% more homes, buildings in CMX-1, CMX-2, and RM-1 can rise to 45 feet, and CMX-3 through CMX-5 and RMX-3 get 30% more floor area. Parking is capped at one space per two homes, and one-story buildings and parking lots in front of buildings are banned. Single-family zoning is not affected. The overlay applies only where a district councilmember opts a station in. Upon its initial passage, 13 Market-Frankford Line stations were opted in. No district has added a station since. Adding Broad Street Line, Girard Avenue, trolley, and Regional Rail stations would make room for an estimated 7,900 more homes. Find your district's stations.

Our position: We support every district councilmember adding their district's stations to the TOC overlay. Next, we support taking TOC citywide. Every subway, trolley, and Regional Rail station should be included without waiting for a district to opt in. The radius should increase to a half mile. Parcels in the TOC zone should have no parking mandates, and small apartment buildings, up to the overlay's 45-foot height, should be allowed by right (without special zoning approval) in RSA-5 rowhouse districts near stations.

Protected bike lanes make streets safer for everyone: a Philadelphia study found crashes fell nearly 20% on corridors that got them. Gaps in the network keep most people from cycling in Philadelphia in the first place. As long as the 2012 ordinance stands, each new lane that removes a travel or parking lane needs a bill from the district councilmember.

Our position: We support a connected citywide network of protected bike lanes, with district councilmembers sponsoring the lanes that complete it in their districts.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's (SEPTA's) Accelerate plan, released in September 2026, calls for Regional Rail trains every 15 minutes, matching the subway lines. That would turn dozens of underused city stations into neighborhood metro stops. The plan has no funding yet. It pairs naturally with adding those stations to the TOC overlay (H1).

Our position: We support the city putting money behind SEPTA Accelerate in its capital and operating budgets, starting with 15-minute Regional Rail service at city stations, and Council passing a resolution that backs the plan and presses Harrisburg to fund it.

A land value tax shifts the property tax off buildings and onto land. Most homeowners would pay less, and vacant lots held off the market would finally pay their share. Pennsylvania lets its other cities tax land at a higher rate than buildings, but Philadelphia needs the state legislature to give it the same power. In 2021 the city's Law Department raised concerns that a land value tax could violate the state constitution's uniformity clause. A legal analysis by Brian Connor, which won Penn Law's Pamela Daley Prize for the best tax law paper by a graduating student, concludes that it would not and that it would survive a court challenge.

Our position: We support a land value tax in Philadelphia, with protections for longtime homeowners on fixed incomes (see H3). Council should pass a resolution asking the state legislature to let Philadelphia adopt one.

Local governments cover under 8% of SEPTA's operating budget, one of the lowest local shares of any big-city transit system, leaving riders exposed every time Harrisburg stalls. Transit agencies in Denver and Seattle get 60 to 80% of theirs locally. Land near stations gains value from the service that reaches it, and a land value tax (H2) is one way to put some of that back into transit.

Our position: We support increasing the city's local funding for SEPTA, including dedicated local revenue if the state grants that authority.

“Daylighting” replaces the parking spaces closest to a crosswalk with posts, planters, or bike racks, so drivers and people crossing can see each other. Parking there is already illegal, but the rule is rarely enforced. Council President Kenyatta Johnson called for hearings on citywide daylighting in 2025 (Resolution 250386). Hoboken, N.J., which daylighted its intersections, has gone years without a traffic death.

Our position: We support daylighting intersections across the city, even when that means removing parking spaces.

More homes at every price reduces competition for the moderately priced homes people already live in. Longtime residents also need help staying put as their neighborhoods become more valuable. Many owners can't afford a new roof or heater, and the city's free Basic Systems Repair Program can't reach everyone who qualifies. Pew counted more than 10,000 Philadelphia homes with tangled titles, where the family living there isn't on the deed, which blocks them from repair grants, tax relief, and loans. Tax relief programs like the Longtime Owner Occupants Program (LOOP), the Homestead Exemption, and the senior tax freeze only help the owners who know to apply.

Our position: We support pairing more home choices with programs that prevent displacement: enough repair-grant funding so that eligible homeowners don't wait for basic repairs, free legal help to clear tangled titles, and enrolling eligible homeowners in LOOP, the Homestead Exemption, and the senior freeze automatically wherever the city can.

Bill 260516, from Council President Kenyatta Johnson and Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, is the one TOC bill that hasn't yet passed. CMX-1 is the zoning for small neighborhood commercial blocks. The bill would allow apartment buildings there by right when the ground floor holds a shop or other business, at up to one home per 750 square feet of lot, within today's 35-foot, three-story height limit. It would also lift the 2,000 square foot cap on storefronts, allow child care, restaurants, and community centers, and drop the rule that ties CMX-1 buildings to the parking and size limits of the neighboring residential block.

Our position: We support passing Bill 260516 (CMX-1 Reform) without amendments that weaken its housing provisions.

Parking mandates force new buildings to include spaces whether or not there is demand for them. Parking spaces are expensive: not only do they cost money to build, especially in underground or structured garages, but they also take up scarce space that could otherwise hold homes or businesses. Tenants pay for those costs in their rent. Philadelphia's zoning code sorts land into districts with short codes: RSA and RM are residential, CMX is commercial mixed-use, RMX is residential mixed-use, and IRMX is industrial-residential mixed-use. The code already requires no parking for homes in RSA-4, RSA-5, RM-1, CMX-2, and CMX-2.5, and Council ended the mandate in CMX-4 and CMX-5 in 2025 (Bill 250524). It still applies where mid-size apartment buildings get built: CMX-3, RM-2 through RM-4, RMX-2, RMX-3, and IRMX each require 3 spaces per 10 homes. Homebuilders and shop owners know what each site needs better than this one-size-fits-all formula does.

Our position: We support ending parking mandates for homes in CMX-3, RM-2, RM-3, RM-4, RMX-2, RMX-3, and IRMX, so each project provides the parking it actually needs. At a minimum, mandates should end entirely within the TOC overlay.

The Mixed Income Neighborhoods overlay (MIN) requires some new buildings in parts of Districts 3 and 7 to include below-market homes, without city funding to pay for them. It produced 19 affordable homes from July 2022 through 2025, according to the city's own 2025 inclusionary housing report, with 21 more in the pipeline. Build Philly Now's analysis estimates it discouraged 1,000 to 1,400 homes, and it blocks the TOC density bonus where the two overlap.

Our position: We oppose extending MIN or any other unfunded affordability mandate to new parts of the city. Where MIN already applies, the city should fund the affordable homes it requires, about $11,000 per home per year (the gap between average market rent for a two-bedroom in MIN neighborhoods and the rent MIN allows) or the same amount as upfront capital, from a dedicated source. If the city won't pay for those homes, Council should repeal the requirement.

Downzoning overlays and remapping bills cut the number of homes a neighborhood allows, often near good transit. Bill 251101, for example, would ban all homes on the vacant Hahnemann Hospital site. Fewer homes means more competition for the ones that exist, and higher rents. Historically, these limits have been used to keep working families out of wealthier neighborhoods.

Our position: We oppose downzoning overlays and remapping bills that reduce the number of homes allowed, and we support rolling back existing downzoning overlays.

Many neighborhoods close to jobs, transit, and good schools allow only single-family houses, which pushes working families into long commutes. Rooming houses (single-room occupancy homes) are the most affordable homes a city can offer, and today they need zoning board approval in much of the city.

Our position: We support allowing duplexes, triplexes, and backyard and basement apartments (accessory dwelling units, or ADUs) in single-family zoning districts near jobs and transit, and allowing rooming houses in all apartment and commercial districts.

The city owns thousands of vacant lots. The Turn the Key program builds affordable starter homes on them, giving working families a chance to own a home and build wealth.

Our position: We support working with the Parker administration to fast-track 1,000 city-owned lots for Turn the Key homes, and reforming Land Bank and Sheriff's sale processes so public land gets to homebuilders faster.

Mixed-income buildings struggle to get financed. A revolving loan fund would give the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) short-term public capital to build mixed-income housing that it owns. The fund covers construction costs until a building is finished and refinanced with a permanent loan. Then the money is repaid and lent to the next project, so each public dollar builds homes again and again. Montgomery County, Maryland, uses this model through its Housing Production Fund. How the fund would work.

Our position: We support a $50 to 100 million revolving loan fund for mixed-income housing owned by PHA.

The Office of Property Assessment (OPA) values the land under 9 in 10 built properties in Philadelphia at exactly one-fifth of the property's total value. So when an owner builds or renovates, OPA says the land got more valuable too. That matters for abated properties, which pay tax on their land but not their new building: improving a site raises the bill, which is one reason owners leave parking lots as parking lots. Washington, D.C. is now holding hearings on legislation to set assessment standards.

Our position: We support legislation requiring OPA to follow professional standards for assessing land, so land values reflect the land and not what is built on it.

The Transit Access Fund, proposed by Councilmember Nicolas O'Rourke and Transit Forward Philadelphia, would give the city's transit fare programs dedicated, permanent funding instead of fighting for their inclusion in every budget. The biggest is Zero Fare, which, despite its name, is not free transit: the city buys SEPTA fare cards for residents with incomes at or below 150% of the poverty line, so SEPTA is paid for every ride. Zero Fare was left out of the mayor's proposal for fiscal year 2026, restored by Council, and funded at $25 million for fiscal year 2027. The fund would also pay to expand Key Advantage to the groups in T4.

This is different from proposals to make SEPTA fare-free without a plan to replace the lost fare revenue. We back the Transit Access Fund because it comes with the money.

Our position: We support a permanent, dedicated Transit Access Fund for Zero Fare and expanded Key Advantage.

The city has offered free SEPTA passes to its employees through Key Advantage since September 2023, and the Parker administration extended it. School District employees don't have the same benefit. In July 2026 SEPTA started a pilot that lets apartment buildings offer Key Advantage to their tenants.

Our position: We support keeping Key Advantage for all city employees, extending it to School District of Philadelphia employees, and growing SEPTA's pilot that lets apartment buildings offer Key Advantage to their tenants.

Today the School District gives transit passes only to students in grades 7 to 12 who live at least 1.5 miles from school, and the passes stop working at 8 p.m., on weekends, and over the summer. In April 2026 Councilmember Rue Landau proposed passes for all students, all day, all year.

Our position: We support extending student passes to evenings and weekends, and to students who live within 1.5 miles of school.

Buses and trolleys stuck behind traffic and double-parked cars are slow and unreliable. Transit-only lanes, traffic signals that hold the green for an approaching bus or trolley, and camera enforcement keep thousands of riders on schedule every day. Enforcement cameras should ticket only vehicles blocking lanes and stops, keep footage only as long as a ticket needs it, and share it with no one for any other purpose.

Our position: We support expanding bus and trolley lanes and transit signal priority, and using cameras to ticket drivers who block transit lanes and stops.

Extending the B (Broad Street Line) under Roosevelt Boulevard would give hundreds of thousands of Northeast and North Philadelphians a fast, affordable trip to jobs, take car trips off the Boulevard, and make room for homes and businesses around new stations.

Our position: We support extending the B (Broad Street Line) under Roosevelt Boulevard to the Northeast.

SEPTA runs about 12% less bus service than it did before COVID. The new bus network that SEPTA is rolling out now is the right map for adding service back. Riders say frequency and reliability matter most, and too many stops are still hard to reach for people with disabilities, unlit, or unsheltered, while trips that cross the city line mean another fare and another wait.

Our position: We support local funding to restore bus service to pre-COVID levels, added back along the new bus network. We also support consolidating closely spaced stops to speed up trips, making stops accessible, lit, and sheltered, and seamless fares and transfers across the city line.

New York's peak-hour toll has sped up buses and deliveries and has raised money for transit. Whether something similar makes sense for Philadelphia, where it would apply, and who would pay are questions that have not yet been studied.

Our position: We support the city studying decongestion pricing for Center City and University City, including its likely effects on traffic, transit, businesses, and lower-income drivers, and how the revenue could fund transit, before any decision to adopt it.

The Philadelphia Parking Authority raised the residential permit from $35 to $75 a year in September 2024, and none of the new revenue goes to transit. Metered parking mostly costs the same at the busiest hour as the emptiest, so drivers circle and double-park. Prices that rise and fall with demand keep a few spaces open on every block, and parking benefit districts return the revenue to the blocks that generate it.

Our position: We support piloting curb parking prices that rise and fall with demand. The meter revenue should pay for street safety and transit improvements on the same blocks that generate it.

The city's High Injury Network is the small set of streets, mostly wide, fast corridors, where most traffic deaths and serious injuries happen. Proven redesigns narrow crossings and slow speeds, and sometimes that means giving a travel lane or parking to safer uses.

Our position: We support redesigning the streets on the High Injury Network, even when that means removing a travel lane or parking spaces.

Roosevelt Boulevard's speed cameras became permanent in December 2023, and the same law allowed five more corridors and a school-zone pilot. Cameras are now live on Broad Street and Route 13, with Allegheny Avenue, Erie and Torresdale avenues, and Delaware Avenue, Oregon Avenue and Richmond Street planned next. Since February 2026, mobile cameras have run at arrival and dismissal outside five schools. Next year's data decides whether that pilot becomes permanent. Unfortunately, Bill 260699, now before Council, would reduce the fines issued by speed cameras, threatening their demonstrated efficacy.

Our position: We support finishing the planned speed camera corridors, making the school-zone cameras permanent and expanding them to more schools, and seeking state authority to put cameras on more High Injury Network streets. We oppose Bill 260699 and any other bill that weakens speed camera fines.

Since 2012, removing a travel or parking lane for a bike lane requires a Council ordinance, which turns routine safety fixes into district-by-district fights. The city already runs a community process for street changes, so this ordinance adds an unnecessary, redundant step on top of it.

Our position: We support repealing the 2012 ordinance requirement and letting city traffic engineers make lane changes, paired with a review of how the city notifies and surveys residents about street changes, with recommendations to improve it.

Whether a sidewalk is safe depends on whether the owner can afford to fix it, so the worst sidewalks are in the poorest neighborhoods. The city hired a sidewalk coordinator in 2026 to start a citywide sidewalk plan, but there is no money for repairs.

Our position: We support finishing a citywide sidewalk plan and funding a $2 million annual repair grant program for low-income homeowners.

Cars parked on sidewalks, in crosswalks, curb cuts, bike lanes, and bus stops put people in danger, especially people with disabilities. Too few loading zones push delivery drivers to double-park. Outside permit zones, enforcement falls to police who rarely respond. Enforcement cameras should ticket only vehicles parked or stopped illegally, keep footage only as long as a ticket needs it, and share it with no one for any other purpose.

Our position: We support more loading zones, parking enforcement by unarmed officers and by cameras, and a way for residents to report blocked sidewalks and crossings.

Since 2023 the city split Sanitation out of the Streets Department, which now handles roads and bridges. Transportation planning still sits in a separate office, the Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability (OTIS), so no single commissioner owns street safety from plan to pavement.

Our position: We support combining the Streets Department and OTIS into one Department of Transportation, led by a commissioner with complete streets experience.

Curb space used for outdoor dining and seating can earn many times what the same space earns as parking, and it brings life to commercial corridors. Streeteries were pervasive throughout Philadelphia during the COVID era. However, city rules were enacted that make them more expensive to build and slower to permit, and successful open-streets events end when the barricades come down.

Our position: We support easing rules for streeteries, parklets, and pedestrian plazas, even when they replace parking, and making successful open streets permanent.

Mechanical street cleaning now runs in 14 high-litter areas, and most of the city still goes without. Trash set out in bags tears open and blows into the street, illegal dumping piles up in alleys and vacant lots, and the litter ends up in our rivers. Containerized trash, meaning lidded bins that trucks lift, keeps it off the sidewalk. New York now requires it for most residential buildings.

Our position: We support expanding mechanical street cleaning to every neighborhood, even if that means moving cars on cleaning days, and moving the city to containerized trash, starting with pilot blocks. We also support camera enforcement against illegal dumping, more public trash cans, and regular alley cleaning.

Cleaning and greening vacant lots, fixing abandoned houses, and planting street trees are tied to less gun violence, less dumping, and better health, and the neighborhoods that need them most have the least tree cover. Greening is often a stopgap, not a destination: most of those lots should become homes (H9).

Our position: We support more investment in cleaning and greening vacant lots until they can be built on, repairing abandoned homes, and the Philly Tree Plan, with measurable goals.

Staffing and budget cuts have shortened hours at the places families and young people rely on most.

Our position: We support funding libraries, pools, and recreation centers for consistent, convenient hours in every neighborhood.

PennDOT is planning to rebuild and widen I-95 in South Philadelphia. Removing the section of I-95 in South Philadelphia would reduce traffic and pollution in neighborhoods cut off by the highway. 5th Square: Don't Widen I-95.

Our position: We support asking PennDOT to study alternatives to rebuilding and widening I-95 in South Philadelphia. We also support the rule Council asked the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) to adopt in Resolution 260044: transportation projects must show they reduce greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled to get into the regional plan.