Brooke Wieczorek – Pitt News Staff Photographer

With the price of gas hovering somewhere around $3.50 and a greater national emphasis on physical activity, biking is starting to look even more like a cost-effective and waist-whittling alternative. And it’s all the better because Pittsburgh has gotten more bike-friendly.

Both the city and Pitt have increased the accessibility of biking — whereas the University offers more bike racks in front of buildings, the city has built more bike lanes, including some that will soon span Bloomfield to Fifth Avenue. Bicycle Magazine listed Pittsburgh as No. 28 out of the 50 most bike-friendly cities. The magazine claims that to make the list, the city must “support a vibrant and diverse bike culture” and host “smart, savvy bike shops” along with “segregated bike lanes, municipal bike racks and bike boulevards.”

But some of the busiest streets, like Forbes and Fifth around Pitt, lack bike lanes, prompting commuters to bike illegally in bus lanes and on sidewalks.

Pittsburgh boasts a growing bike community. Numerous organizations such as Bike Pittsburgh, the Bicycle Advisory Council and Flock of Cycles exist to offer information, and events like BikeFest, hosted by Bike Pittsburgh, celebrate the expanding number of cyclists. The current atmosphere is quite different from that of the cycling community of Pittsburgh’s past. At one time the biking community was small, and moving through the Steel City on two wheels could be hazardous.

In 1990 the League of American Bicyclists, a national group devoted to encouraging biking, rated Pittsburgh third out of the 10 worst cities for biking. In 2010, they granted Pittsburgh a bronze bike-friendly community award, citing one of the highlights as Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Initiatives intended to create a better transportation environment with measures such as more signs for trails.

“There used to be a point when you knew every person on a bike. A daily occurrence was getting in an argument or having something thrown at you if you were biking. People would harass you. But now drivers are more used to seeing bike riders and there are so many more,” Eric Boerer of Bike Pittsburgh, co-founder of BikeFest, said. The event just enjoyed its seventh anniversary.

Boerer moved to Pittsburgh in 1995. Back then, when he was earning a degree in ecology and evolution at Pitt, he realized biking was a better alternative to the congested traffic of driving and the time-consuming endeavor of finding parking. He said that, initially, he thought biking around the city was “nerve-wracking” since many cyclists rode on the sidewalks. Now having biked for years, he appreciates the addition of new bike lanes.

The Three Rivers Heritage Trail System — an expansive group of trails that connect most neighborhoods and areas — offers paths for commuters to make it to Oakland. But some of the busiest streets, like Forbes and Fifth around Pitt, lack bike lanes, prompting commuters to bike illegally in bus lanes and on sidewalks. Though the task can be daunting, students still choose to bike ride around campus.

“Once I got past the fear of riding on Fifth and Forbes, it got easier after gaining confidence,” Pitt sophomore DJ Dohar said.

Read the rest of this article in the Pitt News

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.bike-pgh.org/membership