Pittsburgh latest city to embrace bike share

Today, Mayor Ravenstahl announced that the city will begin implementing a citywide bike share system at a press conference in Bakery Square. Scott Bricker, called the Mayor’s bike friendly initiatives over the past five years “part of [his] legacy.”

What is bike share and why Pittsburgh? It is a system of shared bicycles available for short-term use by annual or short-term (24-hr) members. The bikes are used for “point-to-point” trips and can lock into any of the 50 solar-powered stations planned throughout the City of Pittsburgh. The 500 bikes are designed to be sturdy, vandal-proof and with safety in mind.

The system is intended to enhance mobility within the city, promote tourism, and provide a fun and healthy way to visit the city’s diverse and exciting neighborhoods. Citywide systems have proven to be extremely successful in Washington DC, Boston, Denver, and Minneapolis.

Bike share bikes should be likened to public transportation, and are intended to fill the gap between locations that are too far to walk in a short period of time, yet too close to take the bus or drive. They offer a significant enhancement to existing public transit, by making it faster and easier for people to get to a bus stop, and increases the distance one can cover in the same amount of time for further reaching transit locations.



Imagine a downtown worker, who only has 30 minutes for lunch. Previously, she was only able to go to restaurants within 2 blocks for a bite to eat. With the addition of bike share, basically all of downtown and even the Strip are now within reach in the same amount of time.

We’ve been working diligently with the Mayor Ravenstahl’s office to bring bike share to Pittsburgh.

Attend one of the following community meetings to find out more:

Carnegie-Mellon University

6pm, Tuesday, April 2, 2013

McKenna-Peter-Wright Rooms

2nd Fl of the University Center

Point Park University

12pm, Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Lawrence Hall Ballroom

201 Wood St

Not a member of BikePGH? Join today! We need you to add your voice! Bike Pittsburgh works to protect cyclist’s rights and promote the vision of making Pittsburgh a safer and more enjoyable place to live and to ride. For more info, check out: www.bikepgh.org/membership