And Here is Our Statement on Parking Swaps

(Above) An example of a bike corral in San Francisco. If your business would like a bike corral of your own please contact the Mayor’s office and/or your city councilperson.

Last month, Mayor Ravenstahl announced an event to unveil the City’s first bike corral during National Bike to Work Week on May 15 in front of OTB Cafe in the South Side. This corral will swap out two car parking spaces for space to park 24 bicycles. OTB just tweeted that crews are installing that corral on East Carson Street as I type this. Today, Councilman Bill Peduto in partnership with the Shadyside Chamber of Commerce and Shadyside Action Coalition announced that two more bike corrals are going to be installed on Walnut Street at Bellefonte. All of this is great news. Bike corrals serve many purposes. They address the increased demand for bike parking without cluttering the sidewalks, they increase the number of customers who can visit a business district, give pedestrians more room to walk, and enhance the safety of the streets when placed at intersections.

Kudos to Mayor Ravenstahl and Councilman Peduto for their leadership and commitment to livability issues in the city. We are lucky to have two elected leaders championing 21st century transportation improvements. These announcements should be celebrated by everyone who lives in and visits the City of Pittsburgh. Parking swaps are happening in progressive, livable cities nationwide, and it is very encouraging that our local elected leaders are focusing the efforts of the City of Pittsburgh on people, safety, health and livability. We can only hope that when our leaders see how popular these types of projects are, that even more resources are committed to bicyclers and walkers citywide in every council district.

As we learned this week from the results of the four-year Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program, if you build it they will come. More bike infrastructure such as lanes, bikeways, and pedestrian routes result in fewer people driving and more people walking and biking. Our ridership in Pittsburgh has skyrocketed by 270 percent over the past decade and shows no sign of slowing down. Demand for bike parking in business districts and in office space is on the rise. As more bikeways are installed in Pittsburgh, and more people start riding instead of driving there will be new demands to provide bike parking for all these people arriving by bike looking eat, drink, shop, or be entertained. We are happy to see the City providing for the thousands of people who want to ride bikes more often. Pittsburgh’s renaissance is indeed taking to the streets.

Here’s a video on the subject from our friends at Streetfilms

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