Addressing car dependency is front and center in Mayor’s Transition Team Report

On Thursday, May 12, Mayor Ed Gainey announced the findings of his transition teams that creates a roadmap for how his administration will approach the pressing issues of the day. BikePGH Executive Director Scott Bricker was asked to sit on the new Mayor’s Infrastructure and Environment (I&E) transition team committee, one of four focus groups.

The I&E Committee was charged with developing “actionable strategies to address environmental health services and sanitation, and the improvement and maintenance of Pittsburgh’s physical infrastructure with a special focus on environmental justice and to consider how to take best advantage of the 2021 Federal infrastructure funding.” 

“And that’s why this report is the beginning and not the end,” Gainey said at a press conference.

Every Pittsburgh community should be treated equally in terms of infrastructure investment to allow for a sense of pride in each region to increase. This is a moment in time where political courage, historic levels of federal infrastructure funding, and a knowledgeable, empowered workforce are the keys to the city’s bright future.

I&E Committee Report

While the document is vast, making sure that Pittsburghers can safely and comfortably walk, bike and take public transit plays a central role in the new Administration’s vision of a Pittsburgh where all the things that people need are “within walking and biking distance, with active and vibrant streets, and with safe and pleasant ways to travel” and to make sure there is “a safe, continuous, and accessible pedestrian and bike network” to access resident’s daily needs. 

In short: Dignity for those without a car.

This vision recognizes that decades of disinvestment has led to car dependency, and that we need an equitable strategy to overcome this past and achieve these goals.

Additionally, the new administration wants to build upon the work of previous administrations and their plans to create a city where “streets should be designed for people, not just cars” and where combating climate change “is not a goal for Pittsburgh, it’s a mandate.”

Below you’ll find some of our favorite highlights from the document.

PRIORITIZE PEDESTRIAN DIGNITY

Pittsburgh needs to focus on pedestrian dignity, or the pride people gain in walking among their communities without the need to own a car. Many people across Pittsburgh live without a car but must sacrifice their dignity to car-centric travel. This includes drivers speeding, driving through crosswalks, and disobeying traffic laws, as well as poorly maintained sidewalks, no access to sidewalks, land use that prioritizes cars, no access to bus lines, an incomplete bike network, and little pedestrian-centric spaces. 

• The administration should implement the studies that have been previously completed including the 2021 Pedestrian Safety Action Plan and neighborhood plans like Homewood’s Mobility Plan.
• Formally adopt Vision Zero as an official City policy and institute a Safe System Approach to planning, design, and engineering streets to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries in the City of Pittsburgh by 2035.
• Prioritize the replacement and maintenance of city-owned sidewalks and stairs, including lighting, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) upgrades, and seasonal maintenance like snow removal.
• Establish a Sidewalk Program at the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) with a dedicated leader to manage a volunteer-run City sidewalk conditions audit program. 
• The prioritization of sidewalk repairs and replacements should be coordinated with the Port Authority, other public agencies, and private owners. It should also follow up on existing work and recommendations from the Complete Streets committee.
• Review and implement the City’s Pedestrian Safety Action Plan.

EXPAND BICYCLING, MOBILITY, AND GREENSPACE NETWORKS

Streets should be designed for people, not just cars.

The administration should fully implement the City’s Bike(+) Plan, which is in the second year of a ten-year plan. Formally adopt Vision Zero as a policy with a focus on Safe System Approach to engineering.

• Rapidly expand bike share in the City of Pittsburgh so that every Pittsburgher is within walking distance to a station that features standard bikes and electric assist bikes.
• Adaptively regulate micromobility systems as technologies will continue to develop. Establish consistent DOMI staffing, periodic review and transparent data collection, and regular opportunities for community input.
• Establish green space mobility networks with pedestrian and bicycle networks through public parks and open spaces. More than just park trails, these can become legitimate ways to travel between places in all seasons and at times of day with lighting, safety patrols, maps, and signage, etc. 
• Develop and implement comprehensive maintenance plans for our mobility network that includes regular maintenance (snow removal, mowing, tree care, trash collection) and long-term capital project planning (riverbank stabilization, trail repaving). 
• Improve paved trails and bike trails in terms of surface quality and upgrade to respond to their various uses. As for light trails, maintain them of snow, leaves and ice, add connectivity, widen them to allow for more people to safely use them, and separate bikes from pedestrians whenever possible. 
• Work with the disability community to ensure maximum accessibility networks, and to ensure that bike lanes and disability needs are coordinated. 
• Invest in bikeway, sidewalk, and trail maintenance equipment like sweepers, small snow removal equipment, and permeable pavement vacuums, and train DPW staff on how to use them and plan for integrating them into their maintenance tasks. 
• Keep cars from parking in bike lanes and invest in better protection for bike lanes.  Paint and flex posts are not enough.  
• Re-establish the City of Pittsburgh Complete Streets Committee.
• Expand and improve the trail system, welcoming signage, and provide maintenance. Further investment in the riverfront trail system would be a major boon for the city, but also connect Pittsburgh to a growing regional trail network in which Pittsburgh is the hub.
• The City’s Bike(+) Plan creates a detailed roadmap for Pittsburgh to pursue and complete within eight years. 
• Other policy changes such as rezoning to allow for more types of uses in neighborhoods, encouraging more density, the reduction of minimum car parking requirements, and even imposing parking maximums would also greatly enhance bicycling and micromobility in the City of Pittsburgh. 
• The bike share system that exists in Pittsburgh should also be rapidly expanded to 3,000 bikes (50% regular, 50% electric assist) to provide this affordable mobility option to as many Pittsburgh residents as possible.

FORGE A STRONGER COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH PORT AUTHORITY FOR IMPROVED PUBLIC TRANSIT

Many people rely on public transportation for their livelihoods. The administration should prioritize transit street improvements, weighing factors including transit ridership, the demographic served by bus lines in the corridor, and the level of congestion along the corridor to ensure that transportation improvements are allocated equitably and effectively, Coordinate with the Port Authority, PennDOT, and other agencies on public right-of-way planning. 

• Pilot a free bus pass program that provides free bus passes to city employees and residents in certain communities (or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients). 
• Dedicated bus/rail lanes would give more incentive to take public transit with the goal to take less time to get somewhere than if you were to drive. With infrastructure improvements, transit can be faster, cheaper, and less stressful than driving your own car and not just seen as something for people who have no other choice 

ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE AND AIR QUALITY

A Climate Resilient City is not a goal for Pittsburgh, it’s a mandate. Climate change poses an existential threat to our city and our rhythms of life. Local government has a responsibility to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of its residents. PGH was one of the first cities to develop a Climate Action Plan and has been on the world’s stage for its progressive environmental commitments. 

• To serve its citizens and the planet, the City needs to reify its commitment to be a Climate Resilient City.
• Accelerate the goals and strategies in the Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan 3.0 and align other plans and frameworks to keep continuity. 
• Policies that are within the city’s control should be adopted, such as… rapidly expanding safe pedestrian and bicycle networks, [and] enhance public transit. 
• Cars are a huge blind spot in terms of air and water quality and climate change. Improving public transit would be a huge boon for air quality, as current underinvestment in alternatives to driving are making driving more necessary. 

TRAFFIC CALMING AND PARKING REFORM

Much more moves through the city than pedestrians, bikes, and cars. The City manages traffic control systems, bridges, and major structures, and negotiates with other systems such as railways and freight

• The administration should adaptively manage traffic with more widespread technology, such as automated enforcement. Verify that current technologies are working and if so, expand their use. 
• Install more speed humps and other proven traffic-calming features to slow down cars to speeds that will reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities. 
• Consider periodic or long-term pedestrian-only corridors in neighborhood commercial districts like Walnut St in Shadyside, Market Square downtown, Forbes Avenue in Oakland, and parts of Penn Ave in the Strip District. 
• Reconsider parking requirements to ensure we are putting the right amount of parking in the right places. Price parking on-street and in City-owned garages to discourage individual car trips and encourage using other modes. Price parking according to demand.
• Eliminating mandatory minimum parking requirements in transit-rich areas, increased density for walkability, city-wide inclusionary housing, allowable accessory dwelling units, and smaller issues such as loosening commercial restrictions to allow for corner stores or building performance requirements. 
• Create a leadership position solely dedicated to mobility justice and transportation access, including bicycle and pedestrian issues. This position should ensure coordination/collaboration on equitable transportation and disability-related efforts across all departments and agencies.