Become an Advocate
It’s easier than you think!
All you have to do is talk to people about how important it is to make Pittsburgh better for biking. The key people to focus on are your elected officials, your employer, and government agencies. You can also start by just talking to your friends and family. If you get them excited about all the possibilities then they will start talking too and pretty soon the dominoes are falling.
Locally, the most important individuals to connect with are Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (click here to email him) and Chief Executive Dan Onorato (click here to email him). Call their office, send a letter, or email them stating that you’re a voter and that it’s important to you to make our region’s streets, business districts, and places of employment more bike friendly.
Next, in order of importance, is your city councilperson. It’s the councilperson’s job to represent the interests of the specific neighborhood(s) in which they got elected. They can’t represent those interests if they don’t know what matters to their constituents (i.e. you). So, if you care about making Pittsburgh a better place to ride a bike please take a second to find out who your councilperson is, and write him or her and tell them that you’d like your neighborhood to be made more bike-friendly! Most likely, you’ll be surprised at how engaged they are and the response you’ll receive.
Here are some talking points:
- Timely implementation of the City of Pittsburgh Bicycle Plan
- Installing bike route signs
- Installing bike racks in your business district (one idea is to buy tree guards that double as bike racks
- Passing Complete Streets legislation
- Installation of on-street markings such as: bike lanes and shared lane markings whenever possible
- Repairing potholes and other dangerous road hazards
- Install traffic calming devices such as speed humps, more visable crosswalks, and better pedestrian signals
