New Club at Pitt looking to help students safely get around campus without a car

We sat down with Christian Cole, Vice President of the brand new Safer Streets Club at the University of Pittsburgh.

Christian, who is set to graduate in the Spring of 2024, told us about the new club, its founding, and what they hope to accomplish on making Pitt safer for biking, walking and transit.

Tell us a little about the club and how it came to be?
The club was founded after a friend, Harrison Romero (President), and I recently both moved to Pittsburgh as transfer students to find that the bike infrastructure, although good, doesn’t adequately support the needs of students living on and around campus. We were inspired by educational content online, as well as the momentum that already exists in Pittsburgh, to create a club that helps uplift the voices of students in matters related to city infrastructure and transportation given how many of us rely on car alternatives.

What attracted you to the club? Was there a specific incident?
There wasn’t any specific incident that led us to create the club, but rather an accumulation of frustrations. As students, many of us rely on public transportation, biking, and walking to commute to class or to the grocery store. Although Oakland has been built well to meet those needs, many students still commute from outside of Central Oakland where they may not have a convenient bus route or simply prefer the speed of riding a bike each day, both of which are much slower, less convenient, and not as safe compared to driving a car.

What are the club’s top priorities and projects that you’d like to see accomplished?
Our club’s top priorities include working on education, advocacy, research, and development projects to support local organizations and individuals in achieving our common goal of creating safer streets. Given our place as students at the University of Pittsburgh, we would most like to see upgrades to the bus and bike infrastructure in neighborhoods surrounding Oakland such as South Oakland, Shadyside, and the Hill District that help connect students to housing, internships, groceries, and various events throughout Pittsburgh.

How can other advocates in Pittsburgh help you out?
As a new club on campus, we’re always looking to connect with individuals and organizations that share our mission! Because we want to work on projects regarding education, advocacy, research, and development, there’s no shortage of opportunities that we’re happy to get involved with, especially considering the wide range of majors, backgrounds, and skillsets that our members bring to our club. While we’re trying to develop our own events and projects, we would love to get involved and connect our members with existing efforts around the Pittsburgh area!

How can people get involved?
Our club membership is open to all undergraduate University of Pittsburgh students and available for associate membership to all Pitt grad students. To join, students can find our membership form at https://tinyurl.com/SaferStreetsForm or on our social media. For those interested in following our work, we frequently post updates and related content on our Twitter and Instagram under the username @PittSaferStreet.