As of last week, the City of Pittsburgh has closed a legal loophole that allowed drivers to avoid tickets for illegally parking on the sidewalk and in bike lanes.
Written by BikePGH Intern, Ella Hastings
Parking on the sidewalk is illegal and has been for a while in the entire state of PA. However, Pittsburgh’s municipal code previously allowed for people to challenge fines for illegal parking on the sidewalk by claiming that their vehicle was in danger of being hit on the road. BikePGH brought this issue to the attention of Councilman Bobby Wilson (District 1), who introduced the legislation that closed this loophole. In fact, this is the same section of code that Councilman Wilson worked with us to amend to make parking in a bike lane illegal in the first place, and now the law is even stronger.
When drivers park on the sidewalk, pedestrians have to walk into traffic to get around the parked car, which can be even more dangerous for pedestrians than having no sidewalk at all.
Especially when a pedestrian is walking toward traffic, drivers often can’t see them as they navigate around the parked car until they are already in the roadway. And when drivers park in the bike lane, even for a moment, people who bike are forced to dangerously swerve into traffic to get around them. These situations can lead to serious crashes and, in the worst cases, have deadly consequences. [see also: “Nationally, nearly two-thirds (65%) of pedestrian deaths occurred in locations without a sidewalk in 2023.” – Read more from the report here.]
Thanks to the work of advocates across Pittsburgh, Public Safety officials will now be able to more effectively enforce illegal parking. This is not meant to bring in revenue for the city, but instead to curb illegal behavior and protect people who walk and bike from being put in danger.
Of course, this change won’t fix illegal sidewalk and bike lane parking everywhere overnight. What it does is stop ticketed drivers from evading the consequences, so Pittsburgh Police and the Parking Authority can enforce the most egregious cases that are preventing safe access for people who walk and bike on critical routes.
Over the coming months, BikePGH and our partners will work with the City to make a plan for more comprehensive, equitable enforcement, and also infrastructure changes that make illegal parking a thing people don’t want to do anymore.
This is a big first step toward putting the safety of people who live and work here over protecting cars!
References:
https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/pittsburgh-loophole-removed-parking-on-sidewalks
https://www.ghsa.org/resource-hub/pedestrian-traffic-fatalities-2025-data
Join the Safe Sidewalks Crew
Pittsburgh Walks, one of the advocacy groups supported by BikePGH, is actively seeking volunteers to join the Safe Sidewalks Crew. This volunteer initiative will use a mobile app developed with DOMI and the Department of Innovation & Performance to assess sidewalk conditions throughout neighborhoods across the city.
NEWSLETTER