Pittsburgh latest city to embrace bike share
Today, Mayor Ravenstahl announced that the city will begin implementing a citywide bike share system at a press conference in Bakery Square. Scott Bricker, called the Mayor’s bike friendly initiatives over the past five years “part of [his] legacy.”
What is bike share and why Pittsburgh? It is a system of shared bicycles available for short-term use by annual or short-term (24-hr) members. The bikes are used for “point-to-point” trips and can lock into any of the 50 solar-powered stations planned throughout the City of Pittsburgh. The 500 bikes are designed to be sturdy, vandal-proof and with safety in mind.
The system is intended to enhance mobility within the city, promote tourism, and provide a fun and healthy way to visit the city’s diverse and exciting neighborhoods. Citywide systems have proven to be extremely successful in Washington DC, Boston, Denver, and Minneapolis.
Map of possible bike share locations. Click to enlarge.
Bike share bikes should be likened to public transportation, and are intended to fill the gap between locations that are too far to walk in a short period of time, yet too close to take the bus or drive. They offer a significant enhancement to existing public transit, by making it faster and easier for people to get to a bus stop, and increases the distance one can cover in the same amount of time for further reaching transit locations.
Imagine a downtown worker, who only has 30 minutes for lunch. Previously, she was only able to go to restaurants within 2 blocks for a bite to eat. With the addition of bike share, basically all of downtown and even the Strip are now within reach in the same amount of time.
We’ve been working diligently with the Mayor Ravenstahl’s office to bring bike share to Pittsburgh.
Attend one of the following community meetings to find out more:
Carnegie-Mellon University
6pm, Tuesday, April 2, 2013
McKenna-Peter-Wright Rooms
2nd Fl of the University Center
Point Park University
12pm, Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Lawrence Hall Ballroom
201 Wood St
Not a member of BikePGH? Join today! We need you to add your voice! Bike Pittsburgh works to protect cyclist’s rights and promote the vision of making Pittsburgh a safer and more enjoyable place to live and to ride. For more info, check out: www.bikepgh.org/membership
NEWSLETTER
10 Comments
[…] and retain young talent in an area. After lots of hard work behind the scenes on the part of Bike Pittsburgh and other transportation planners the City of Pittsburgh is proud to announce that a 50 station, […]
This is great but Pittsburgh must be made safer before cycling in embraced by the city. At the current rate, cyclists commute past a grisly gauntlet of ghost bikes dedicated to riders that were ridden down by motorists and left on the side of the road to die.
Thirstybuck, while i agree the city should be made safer, a fatality is actually a fairly rare occurrence, and much lower compared to most other cities, even those with bike share
[…] Read more at bikepgh.org. […]
[…] 2 – Pittsburgh gets BikeShare system What is bike share and why Pittsburgh? It is a system of shared bicycles available for short-term […]
[…] we will see an even greater number of cyclists on the road. The Mayor recently announced that bike share, a system of shared bicycles available for short-term use by members, is in the works for […]
[…] “Imagine a downtown worker, who only has 30 minutes for lunch. Previously, she was only able to go to restaurants within 2 blocks for a bite to eat. With the addition of bike share, basically all of downtown and even the Strip are now within reach in the same amount of time,” write organizers at BikePGH.org. […]
[…] this month, the city of Pittsburgh unveiled plans for a system that will allow residents and visitors to share hundreds of bicycles between at least […]
[…] bike share system consisting of 50 bike share stations housing a total of 500 bicycles was announced in March (see […]
[…] Mayor Ravenstahl Announces Bike Share System Coming to Pittsburgh […]