How To Bike in Pittsburgh

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This is CityCast, Pittsburgh. I'm Megan Harris and here's what Pittsburgh's talking about.

Executive producer Mallory Falk here. I am so excited about the warmer weather

because it means I'm finally busting out my bike.

I will admit I am a baby who doesn't really ride when it's below 40 degrees.

If the nice weather has you wanting to get on a bike too,

but you're a little nervous about riding in the city,

maybe you're intimidated by the hills or afraid of car traffic,

then you are in luck because we're bringing back my conversation

with a certified biking expert. He's got advice for cyclists and drivers alike

about navigating the city safely and knowing the rules of the road.

I'm with Ted King Smith, Education Manager at Bike Pittsburgh. Hey, Ted.

Hello. So just to start us off here,

do you think that Pittsburgh is a bike-friendly city?

I think it is and I was just on a bike ride with a friend of mine right before

recording this and she said she was told that someone who used to live in Portland

said that Pittsburgh's an even better place to buy from Portland these days.

So I can't confirm or deny that. Wow. That's the ultimate stamp of approval.

But you know, anecdotally, I feel like every year,

I bike in Pittsburgh, it seems more relaxing. It seems more enjoyable.

I see more people doing it. There's more infrastructure.

It's easier to navigate. It's easier to get from point A to point B.

And we just have such amazing amenities for biking here.

The network of river trails to the on-street bike infrastructure.

You can have an amazing bike ride anywhere in the city.

It's a great place to bike. And so, yes, bike-friendly, absolutely.

So why should people who haven't taken up biking in the city at like,

why should they consider biking here?

Both for fun, but also for commuting, getting to work to the grocery store,

just to like all the daily places you need to hit up.

You know, it's more fun than driving is.

You get some exercise. You get your heart rate up a little bit.

You get to breathe some fresh air.

You get to see the sights. You get to smell the smells.

You get to hear the sounds of the things around you.

You can be really engaged with the world around you.

If you see someone, if you see a friend on the side of the road,

you can pull over and you can say hi and chat for a little bit if you want.

If you can stop in and grab a cup of coffee on your commute

and pop back on your bike and keep going,

you can stop by the grocery store on the way home, right?

To me, once you bike commuted,

you realize it's easier than you think it will be.

It's more fun than you think it would have been.

And it just opens up opportunities that something that is a chore,

that's drudgery sometimes when you're driving,

you're trying to find a parking space or you're running late

or you're having to fill up your gas tank again, right?

When you're biking, you're freed from a lot of this stuff.

In a lot of ways, it's a much more simple and a much more elegant

and can be a less stressful way to get around.

That stressful piece is interesting because I definitely have friends who have said

it seems like such a nice way to take in the scenery and be in the fresh air,

but the thought of riding alongside cars stresses me out.

Or I have no idea if I can actually make it up the hills here.

The city has just such intense terrain.

So what do you just say to people who are curious about biking,

but are a little bit nervous to get on the road?

Try it out on the weekend.

Try it out with your friends.

Just go for a casual bike ride without the stakes

of having to arrive at work and just test it out.

See if it works.

See how you feel on that hill, right?

Often there's a route that's going to be less steep

that will get you to the same place.

It might be a little bit longer and then you factor that in.

Just be busy on yourself.

Give yourself a lot of time.

Find a day with a good forecast to try it out.

And if you like it, then figure out how you can work

into your routine and do it more often.

Paying attention to what hill you might encounter makes a lot of sense.

The first time I tried bike commuting here,

I went up Stanton and realized that was very ambitious

and I wasn't quite ready for it all that steep yet.

So that's very smart.

But I'm curious like your recommendations

for how to even go about planning your route.

Like what resources should you use?

Is Google Maps a reliable way to find the best route?

How should people go about doing that?

That's a great question.

So I'll call out some of our resources at Bike Pittsburgh.

We just released the 10th version of our Pittsburgh bike map this past May.

And that map shows where all of the on-street

bike infrastructure is in the city.

Also, crucially, it points out some places where there is not

bike infrastructure.

But our roads that you really might need to use to connect

like one neighborhood to another.

So we call those cautionary bike routes.

So we want people to know that you can use those roads.

Really, you can use all the roads,

unless they're limited access highways.

But we want people to be aware of places

where they might need to use a little bit extra caution

and then show people where a good bike infrastructure is

so that they can really prioritize those routes

when they're moving around.

And looking at that map is a great way to do it.

Google map bicycling directions.

Don't use the car directions if you're bicycling.

Use the bicycling directions.

Crucial advice here.

But double check your Google map directions

with the Pittsburgh bike map.

And just do a comparison and see,

okay, Google might be sending me on the fastest route,

but are they sending me on the route with the most bike

infrastructure?

If you want a more relaxed route,

try and maybe go a block out of the way

to find the on-street bike lanes,

protected bike lanes.

We have a type of infrastructure in Pittsburgh called a

neighborway, which is like a traffic calmed back street.

It's like an alleyway, but nicer.

And those are amazing commuting

thoroughfares in the city of Pittsburgh.

So the coral street neighborway gets you across

friendship.

The Reynolds street neighborway gets you across

point breeze instead of taking pen avenue,

which is both of those streets avoid pen avenue.

And in the last resource that I would point out is that

we have a very active reddit community

around biking in Pittsburgh.

So it's called biking 412.

And that is a really great place to

ask questions and get really hyper local answers

about your commute and your neighborhood.

You're going to get a lot of opinions.

But a consensus will emerge.

Usually people have figured out

the best way through a certain neighborhood to get to

another neighborhood.

And I think that's a really great resource to get some

really tailored information.

Just for you or for, you know,

where you live or where you're going.

Yeah, that's great to know about

because it does seem like sometimes you'll be in one

neighborhood that has really great

bite infrastructure.

And then it just drops off and you're on your own.

And so figuring out how to get across the city

and not just from one side of the neighborhood to another

can be tricky.

And you might also find that the safest,

best most comfortable way to do that commute

could be to take a bus for part of the commute.

If it's a very long commute,

every PRT bus has a rack for two bikes on it.

So you might find that I used to commute to the

Keysport for instance, right?

So I was biking to the busway and then I'd rack up my bike.

And I could take the bus and then I was actually able to,

if I fell up to it, I could ride the gap all the way back.

So there are things you could do to be multimodal

and get even further or make that commute

as relaxing as possible.

If somebody wants to get comfortable on their bike,

are there any routes or neighborhoods in Pittsburgh,

you think are especially good for beginners

like somewhere with really good protected bike lanes, for example?

I mean, I really think that the Forbes app

protected bike lanes that were implemented across the

Fern Hall of Ridge have made what used to be

a fairly scary road to ride on into a very comfortable one.

So you can bike, and this is a great place

to practice climbing hills as well.

It's a steady uphill, it's a steady downhill.

It's all under protected bike lane that gets you

from Squirrel Hill to Regent Square and back.

So, and it's straight.

So I think that's a good road to connect you

to the kind of original Pittsburgh bike lane,

which is the Beachwood Boulevard bikeway.

That's the OG.

Yeah, so the three ritual ones, we can call these all out too,

because these are great places to bike,

is the Beachwood Boulevard bikeway,

the Riverview Park Loop, where there's bike lanes

around the entire park, and then also the Highland Park Loop.

So I'd say all three of those are great places to just go out.

And then another good option is the Negly Run Boulevard.

Protected bike lane can take you from the

East Liberty Boulevard bike lanes,

all the way down to the Washington Boulevard bike track,

the Bud Harris cycling track,

and then you can ride around that track too,

which is a great place to just practice,

and there's a large infield in practice too.

Yeah, that's removed from all the traffic, yeah.

So there's a lot of great amenities.

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Now you've decided you're going to give this a try.

You're going to get on the road.

What are the main rules of the road?

Like do you need to follow the same rules that cars do?

Are there times when you're more of a pedestrian?

What's like the big overview that people should know?

So that's a very good question.

And something that there is a lot of

misunderstanding about what are the rules of the road

regarding a bicycle.

And there is actually a Pennsylvania state

bicycle drivers manual that Penda produces.

Or at least has produced that you can find

if you look it up online on the Penda website.

But there is a vehicle code which governs bicycles.

And essentially most of the same rules of the road

for cars bikes have to follow as well.

With a couple exceptions.

So for the most part you're driving in the same direction as traffic.

You're driving on the road.

Not on the sidewalk, yeah.

Not the sidewalk.

But generally sidewalk riding is illegal in business districts

where it's indicated.

But outside of that it's a gray area, it's it's legal.

But importantly you have a right to the road.

So this is something that

a bike Pittsburgh road and Amicus brief

in a recent P.A. state Supreme Court case

defending the cyclist's right to be on the road

and stay on the road.

Even if there are drivers behind them

that feel inconvenienced, right?

You still have a right to the road.

So.

So there's not the not like driver supremacy here necessarily?

There is not.

You're following the same traffic controls

the cars do, stopping at stop signs, stopping at red lights.

Now we would like to see

different laws in Idaho.

There is what's called Idaho stop

where a cyclist can treat a stop sign as a yield.

So yielding the right of way if necessary and then going.

Treating treating red lights as stop signs.

So stopping and then if you have the right way

because the intersection is clear, you can continue.

Which I think a lot of people kind of do

informally here even if it's not legal.

Correct.

It is not legal.

You can get ticketed for running a red light

for running a stop sign.

So we would like those laws to be changed

to make cycling just just easier

and also to formalize and legalize something

that a lot of cyclists already do.

Also, you know, you're using the turning lane

for the turn that you're making.

So if you're making a right turn,

you should be in the right lane.

If you're going straight, you should be in a straight

facing lane.

If you're making a left turn,

you need to be over to the left with the exception

that you can also make a two-stage turn

which means you go straight through an intersection

and then you reorient yourself

and you go straight again

as opposed to merging over to a left turning lane.

And then where the laws are different

is there is bicycle-only facilities.

So bike lanes were allowed to bike and bike lanes,

cars are not allowed to drive them bike lanes.

We're allowed to be on bike paths,

cars are not allowed to be on the bike paths.

So we have a couple of additional, let's say,

rights to use some infrastructure

and some facilities that cars are not allowed to use,

which is great.

Go bikes.

That's why we ride them right

so that we have access to things.

And then as far as being treated as a pedestrian,

when you dismount your bike

to walk it across an intersection,

you become a pedestrian, right?

So that's kind of the gray area there.

So for instance,

technically when there is an all-walk at an intersection

where both sides get to walk,

you are not allowed to bike through that all-walk condition.

Technically, I know people-

Uh-oh, I've definitely checked that before.

Many people do, and I know people who've been ticketed for that.

But that's technically the law.

So to be very safe about that,

if you dismount your bike,

you can walk through that all-walk condition

and then re-mount your bike.

That's technically legal.

Just some things to some legal minutia to be mindful of.

But the best way

in a busy business district, for instance,

back to sidewalks,

the best way to be on the sidewalk

is to be walking your bike.

You could be ticketed if you're riding.

And also, it's just,

it's unfriendly, it's dangerous,

it's blocking people who might need that space in that sidewalk.

So something else that we teach people

is if you're on a sidewalk

that you're allowed to be on,

it's a pedestrian place,

it's pedestrian space.

So go a pedestrian pace.

So you're walking,

or you're going at a walking speed.

Well, let's talk about the rule

that cars and drivers play.

What should drivers be doing

or be aware of when it comes to

the rights that bikers have

and how they can be more conscientious on the road?

I mean, first of all, just be friendly.

Share the road.

You know,

everyone who's using the road

is just trying to get

from point A to point B

and to do it safely.

And to do it in a way where

they're not

being, you know,

endangered by others, right?

Or feeling like they're being

like attacked by other people, right?

So just be mindful of other people

and be courteous.

And I think that

our city is getting getting better in this regard.

And also just operate under the assumption

that other road users

have the same right to the road that you do.

Because they do.

So

when there's a bike in front of you

and they're going a little bit slower

than you are,

it's okay.

Just wait.

So you have an opportunity to pass them

and pass them with at least four feet

because that is the law.

And if not, just wait.

And I think that's

that's like the real key thing.

It's just that sort of mutual understanding

and appreciating each other's right to the road.

And I would add to that as well,

just to also be

be extra aware as a car driver.

I know cars are full

of even more distractions

than they used to be.

And people are often looking at their phones,

which is illegal

to be holding your phone while you're driving.

So don't do it.

But really, just have that extra duty of care.

Be very mindful.

Pay attention.

You know, to the other road users around.

You can respect the right to be on the road.

When you're on a street

where there isn't a bike lane

and you are sharing with a car,

do you recommend like taking the lane

where you kind of drive

where the cars are going?

You're taking up that full lane

or sharing the lanes

so that you're to the right

and cars can go past you?

I always recommend that, you know,

bike riders should do

what makes them comfortable.

And taking the lane

is often the thing

that will make you safer

and also make you feel comfortable

for a variety of reasons.

So one is, if you push over to the right,

you're against park cars

and the park car opens their car door,

you're going to go into it

or you're swarving around that car door

and you might be swarving into the path

of an approaching car behind you.

Whereas if you take the lane,

you already kind of control that space

in the middle of the lane.

Also, if you get close past

by a car to your left,

if you're already against the park car,

you're squeezed in,

whereas if you have a bit of a buffer space

to your right,

you have some room to swarve over to the right

in that instance.

So taking the lane, it's a very,

it's a very safe strategy

that said,

you know, being a good neighbor on the road

means also recognizing that

like if you can let a car pass you,

like let them pass you,

you know, if you want,

if it's safe for you to do so,

you don't need to endanger yourself

for the convenience of others.

But, you know, it's up to you.

If there's, if it seems like it's safe

to let a car around you,

then, you know, there's no reason not to do that.

And then something, you know,

a little bit more unique to Pittsburgh

is biking across bridges,

using bridges on your commute.

Is there anything special to know

related to biking on bridges?

So first of all,

everything I said about not riding on sidewalks

is like no longer the case on a bridge.

On a bridge,

you can use the sidewalk.

It's often the safest place to get across a bridge

unless that bridge has like wide shoulders

or bike lanes on it.

So, yeah, don't think that

you have to ride on the deck of the bridge,

like you can ride on the sidewalk

on like pretty much every bridge in Pittsburgh.

So, for many of our bridges,

40th Street Bridge,

which is right by us in Lawrenceville,

that's a really good bridge to take the sidewalk

on 31st Street Bridge,

the good bridge to do that 16th Street Bridge,

and so on and so forth.

And then the last bridge I'm going to call out

that we're really excited about

is the Davis Ave Bridge,

which was installed last winter, I believe.

And that is a bike and pedestrian only bridge

and it's beautiful.

And really hats off to the city of Pittsburgh

for trading such a nice amenity,

just for pedestrians and bike riders.

Yeah, I really hope to see more of that

in the city.

Me too.

Is there anything else you think it's important

for people to know

in order to be conscientious bikers

and stay safe on the road?

Wear a helmet.

So, as an adult,

there is no law in Pennsylvania

that says you have to wear a helmet.

If you're over,

I think it's over 12 years of age,

technically you don't have to wear a helmet,

but you still have a brain that's very vulnerable

and you should protect yourself

and it's a very easy thing

that you can do,

which will make an enormous difference.

And there's some very fashionable ones now.

Absolutely.

They're fashionable, they're aerodynamic,

they sometimes they can let the,

they can suck the air in in ways

that'll cool your head off better

than like not wearing a helmet can, so they say.

But I would highly recommend it.

Like Pittsburgh,

we'll give you a free helmet

at our Operation Illumination Events.

Those have been a couple times a year,

so stay tuned to the bike Pittsburgh social media

for more information about that.

And also, we're given out bike lights

and that's something else you need.

So, after dark,

it is extremely dangerous

and against the law to be riding

without front rear bike lights.

So,

if you stop by one's events,

we'll give you a free set.

You can also contact me,

Ted at bikepgh.org,

your range of time.

I will give you a set of bike lights or a bike helmet.

I just want to make sure that

you have those

pieces of safety equipment.

Also in Pittsburgh,

it gets very dark here sometimes.

Like there are certain neighborhoods,

you're, you know,

you're almost like next to a park,

or you're in the woods,

it gets super dark.

It's really important that you have some kind of lights on.

Ted, thank you so much for all of these great tips.

I really appreciate it.

Yeah, you're welcome.

And don't go anywhere

because in just a second,

we've got a segment sponsored by TaskRabbit.

I'm chatting with Chelsea Kovac from TaskRabbit

about how Pittsburghers are using the app

to get help with everything from furniture assembly

to spring cleaning.

Plus how locals could even sign up to earn money as taskers.

I am here with Chelsea Kovac,

the head of talent at TaskRabbit.

Hi, Chelsea.

Hi, Mallory.

Thanks so much for having me on today.

Yeah, thanks for being here.

So TaskRabbit, of course,

is this great app where you can essentially find a neighbor

to come help out with a household task.

Or you can sign up to be that neighbor and get that help.

For anyone who hasn't used the app yet,

Chelsea, what are the go-to tasks for people in Pittsburgh?

Yeah, great question.

Those bigger tasks that we typically see on the platform

are usually around like furniture assembly and TV mounting.

Those are two huge categories,

especially with so many people moving in and out of the city.

You know, you've got a ton of universities there

in everything, of course.

So, but we also handle more than just those two categories.

We also handle things like house cleaning services,

moving help, and just general home repairs that you can use.

And really the goal is just ease and quality on the platforms.

So essentially what Pittsburghers will do is go on

and browse local profiles of the taskers.

They'll then see kind of real reviews from other,

you know, local neighbors of theirs in the area.

And you pick the person or the tasker,

rather, that fits your budget and your schedule.

And I mean, TaskRabbit has been a staple in Pittsburgh

for a while now.

You are from here.

I tried and true Pittsburgh.

How have you seen the platform grow in our city?

Yeah, it's been really incredible to watch the growth in Pittsburgh

in particular.

And so we've actually helped complete more than 15,000 tasks

in Pittsburgh over the last few years for the local community.

And so from, you know, the north side to the south side,

we've become really the reliable neighbor to neighbor resource

for when life gets busy.

And we grew from a simple idea about 16 years ago

when our founder just simply needed dog food on a snowy night,

now turned into the number one platform out there for home services.

So really excited to continue building our Pittsburgh network here.

Needing emergency dog food is so relatable,

but incredible what it's grown into.

Yes, absolutely.

So let's talk about the people who are actually doing the work here.

How does TaskRabbit support local workers in Pittsburgh?

This is actually a huge part of our mission.

We aren't just a service.

We're essentially an engine for micro entrepreneurs.

So on average, Taskers in Pittsburgh earn about $54 per hour,

which is huge.

And so it's truly a fantastic way to build a business

or even just make some extra money on the side.

And Taskers are their own bosses, really.

They set their own rates, schedules, and work areas.

But when we talk about our commitment to this side of the platform here,

Taskers also take home 100% of their hourly rate

and 100% of their tips.

And so upholding that integrity to that side of the marketplace

is something really, really important to us as a company

and to our Tasker community as well.

So if somebody is looking to join that community

to sign up as a Tasker today, what's important for them to know?

If someone's looking to sign up as a Tasker on the platform,

really if you're over 18 and you have a skill

is what we're looking for.

So whether that's something like painting, mounting TVs,

or even just simply being handy, we want to hear from you.

And so what's great is we handle the backend logistics

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And we also take safety really seriously.

So one other thing to note is that every Tasker

goes through a multi-step vetting process,

including identity verification and background checks as well.

You know, I think everybody in Pittsburgh right now

is so excited for spring.

This winter was pretty brutal.

And so part of that process, of course, is spring cleaning.

When I think about spring cleaning, I think about going through my clothes

and seeing what's worth keeping or donating.

But what are some of the household tasks

that people should be thinking about

as we're all getting ready for spring?

Yes, well, being from here, I know exactly what a

Pittsburgh winner does to a house and let alone this winner we had

to no doubt that was a brutal one, right?

So right now, truly, is the perfect time

for your pre-spring maintenance.

We'll call it.

But we're seeing a lot of residents booking Taskers

to check for things around the house like drafty windows

or cleaning out those winter clogged gutters

to prevent ice stems or even just simply getting help

with what you mentioned, Mallory, indoor organization projects

while we're stuck inside with some of the rainy weather

as we transition here.

And don't forget, with the weather you're starting to shift,

it's also a great time to like beat the spring rush

for things like mounting new TVs for baseball season

or perhaps if you're not going to the NFL draft,

maybe you'll be watching it on your brand new mounted TV as well.

But overall, I'd say, whatever that's asked,

you've got a neighbor that is ready there to help you.

Sounds like also maybe if someone's renting out their house

for the draft, this would be perfect to get it clean and sparkly.

Now you're talking and to clean it after the fact, right?

Oh, even more critical.

Well, Chelsea, thank you so much for joining us.

Absolutely. It was such a pleasure and always happy

to represent Pittsburgh and TaskRabbit.

But thank you so much for having us on.

And we hope to see everyone engaging with the platform soon.

And again, you can check out taskrabbit.com to learn more.

We will have that link for you in our show notes

so that you are just a click away.

That's all for today here on CityCast Pittsburgh.

If you learned something new from today's show,

consider telling a friend about us

or becoming a CityCast Pittsburgh neighbor

at membership.citycast.fm.

We'll be back tomorrow morning with more from around the city.

Talk to you then.

I think I'm always nervous about holding up the bus, annoying people,

with the time it takes me to kind of maneuver that bike rack.

It's fine.

People can deal.