Get Familiar With The Capital Budget

One of the most reliable ways to make Pittsburgh better for biking and walking is to make sure that projects that improve biking and walking are included in the Capital Budget.

A Capital Budget is the way that a city’s mayor prioritizes and funds the things they want to see built. One can think of a Capital Budget as the conscience of a mayor. The things that they think are important are the things that get funded.

It’s our job as neighborhood advocates to help make the case for continuous and expanded funding for safety improvements on our streets. One way to do that is to get familiar with the draft for next year’s budget, and make sure that the Mayor and your Councilperson hear your support for projects that make our streets safer for people who bike and walk.

The City will not be holding any public meetings regarding the draft budget for 2025, but residents may give feedback using the “Balancing Act” tool linked from the Engage Page regarding 2025 budgets.

Here are tips for finding the info you want

It’s a long document, so here are some tips for how to find information that’s specifically relevant to our advocacy for safer streets:

• First look at the 2025 Project Summary on Page 21. Skim the list for any projects that are in your neighborhood or in an area where you travel, and jump to the corresponding page for more information.
  
• Check out the list of projects within “Complete Streets” on page 45. This is a catch-all category for small to medium-sized street design/redesign projects, as well as the Neighborhood Traffic Calming program. Although that program is proposed to receive more funding in 2025 than 2024, the budget for Complete Streets overall has decreased significantly.
  
• Jump down to the tables in Appendix B on page 45. This is where you can see a list of all the projects that were proposed for the budget by members of Council and department officials. A panel of scorers rates each proposal against a set of criteria and makes a recommendation for inclusion in the draft budget. Zoom in to skim the list, and see what projects didn’t make the cut. Focus on items with “complete streets” in the left column.
  
• See our guide to Influencing the Capital Budget and the City’s Engage Page for more information on the Capital Budget process.

Remember, just because a project you care about isn’t in the draft budget for 2025 doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Some projects take years to complete and were already funded in previous budgets. For others, there’s still time for council members to make the case for a project to be included in the final budget.

That’s why it’s important to work together with your neighbors to advocate for the projects you care about! Get together with your local advocacy group to make an action plan, reach out to your councilperson, and give your feedback on the City’s Engage page.