The city of Pittsburgh is getting tougher on cars illegally parking in bike lanes. The Department of Mobility and Infrastructure and Pittsburgh Parking Authority are working toward establishing automated parking enforcement in bike lanes to crack down on this issue.
The community responded positively when the news was shared on Reddit.
"I was borderline tears of joy," one user said after realizing which streets would be first to see the change.
"This is a great step," another commenter shared. "Transportation needs rules and boundaries to function safely and get everyone to their desired destination efficiently."
According to BikePGH — a nonprofit whose mission is to make streets safer for cyclists and "reduce the harmful effects of car dependence" — the number of commuters who bike to work in Pittsburgh has doubled in the last 10 years. The city has the 13th highest number of bike commuters among the largest cities in the U.S.
Biking to work or running errands can drastically reduce one's carbon footprint. "Using a bike instead of a car for short trips would reduce travel emissions by around 75%," per Our World in Data.
Cyclists have been calling for the city to upgrade its streets in favor of safety precautions. Just a couple months ago, a 9-year-old girl was killed while riding a bike in her neighborhood in Pittsburgh. A 2019 study found that traffic-calming measures, including cycling lanes, reduced fatalities for all road users.
Earlier this year, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and other city leaders announced they'd doubled the budget for improving traffic safety after 21 people died from traffic-related incidents in 2023. The plan is called "Vision Zero," as the city aims for zero traffic-related deaths. There's also another bike-pedestrian project in the works, in which Pittsburgh has received over $2.5 million in grants to fund it.
"A diverse transportation network that is both accessible and safe is the cornerstone of healthy connected communities," Pennsylvania's Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll said in a news release, per Pittsburgh Union Progress.
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