Welcome! You too will soon find your own two-wheeled friend to love and call your own.
2010-03-05 15:19:48
8
Hey, all!
I'm new, not only to this website, but also to the world of bicycle commuting.
I work as a freelance web designer, as well as part time at South Hills Village. I've been living in Pittsburgh for about a year and a half now, having moved here after college. Before Pittsburgh, Hawaii was my place of residence.
I've never driven a car and have always relied on public transportation and my roommate to get to places. Sadly, I don't travel enough to make buying a monthly T-pass worth it, so I depend on scrounging for dollar bills and loose change to pay for my fare.
I'm sick of taking the T, really. I'm tired of the delays, or the trains coming way too early so that I miss them even when I am on time. It also makes no sense to fork over $3 just to travel a mile to buy a jug of milk!
I hope to gain information from you Bike PGH folks so that I may purchase my own bike and save money and unnecessary hassles while traveling. Looking forward to it!
2010-03-05 15:16:31
Welcome, get a bike soon, as soon as this remaining snow melts it's going to be great! Except for the potholes.
The good thing for you is that, if you're close to the T, you can take your bike on and come into town for all the fun and games here.
If you're looking for a general getting around bike, I recommend not spending a lot of money (if you have the means, anyway), just find a bike, get started, and go. From where you're located, I highly recommend Thick Bikes on the South side, take the T in, he usually has a selection of used, for good prices, and I don't think he'll steer you wrong.
2010-03-05 15:46:16
I also live in Pittsburgh and work in the South Hills.There's not really a safe way to commute by bike from the city to work, and vice versa, but hopefully someday,in the not too distant future, they will build a bike trail that goes out that way.It's quite frustrating but there in talking stages presently on constructing "Linear Park trail" along our 3 Rivers.I would love to see this happenbecause it will not only be used for recreational purposes but for people like yourself who need it also for transportation.Welcome to Pittsburgh!
2010-03-05 16:10:57
@Nekko Are you wanting to commute into the downtown/oakland area from the south hills or go the other way? Or just ride around near where you live for errands? What area of town do you live in?
As an aside, you can buy tickets for the bus and T system from the Port Authority online and I think you can still get them at customer service desk in most Giant Eagle stores. The tickets don't expire like a pass and it's easy to keep a couple in your wallet.
Don't forget to check out the Getting around page and especially Commuting 101 guide
2010-03-05 16:31:01
Bikes can be taken on the T during non-rush-hour traffic. To get through that big hill called Mt. Washington during rush, you might be better off on a bus's bike rack. Not all buses do, maybe 3 in 4, but there are no time restrictions.
Lots of changes to the transit system will be happening over the next year or so -- new fareboxes, an electronic farecard (like a debit card) with non-expiring fare, a complete re-do of all the routes, and more buses with racks, for a start.
+1 edmonds59 on a starter bike.
Tip: If you can schedule a lot of running around into a single Sun-Sat week, get a weekly pass. It pays for itself after only about 10 rides. Since you're going out to SHV, get a Zone 2, $27.50.
2010-03-05 18:34:43
You can take a folding bike on the T at all times, and it seems there are a good number of practical ones available at reasonable prices. One downside is a lot of them don't have too wide of a range of gears, which could be a struggle in some parts of the South Hills. But look into them. Brands I've heard about include Dahon & Downtube.
2010-03-05 19:44:08
Did you bring chicken katsu, loco moco, or spam musubi?
2010-03-07 04:09:07