In Which Areas Do You Find Jaywalkers? (Pittsburgh, Oakland: restaurants, stores)

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by WestLibertyAve

Now once in a while you'll see someone do some crazy jaywalking to try to catch a bus, but I'm sure that occurs just about everywhere.

Yup, I think that happens in every town that's big enough to have a bus.

[kgavala]

Originally Posted by greg42

I suppose it might be a little bit less common in Oakland

Oakland is terrible: Every time the light on Forbes at South Bouquet turns red, swarms of students cross in the area under the skywalk near Towers garage, 7-11, and the police substation. I know they have ticketed people there before, but can only get so many because there are masses crossing. I was riding my bike through today and almost had several people just standing in my way---they are looking for cars, not bikes, even though I'm just as much "traffic" as a car is. Ugh. Also, in the more residential parts of Oakland, there are always people popping out from between parked cars without really looking. Dangerous.

[airwair]

I try my hardest not to jay-walk, but I lived in New York City for five years. Old habits die hard. Sorry, guys.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by WestLibertyAve

Good point about the bridge over Forbes...it's actually weird because people still jaywalk there rather than climb the steps. It always amused me when a large class in David Lawrence would let out and mobs of people would pour across Forbes at the first hint of a gap in traffic (and of course I was usually guilty too)

Any idea when the bridge was put in? I just always assumed it was there, although now that I think about it the architecture looks relatively modern...maybe 20 years?

Sometime after 1976. Possibly later than 1986, though I couldn't swear to it.

[greg42]

Heh. I guess I was just blind to that when I drove through. I think the jaywalking didn't happen too much on my trips through Oakland on Forbes or 5th. But I'm sure it does. How could a bunch of college kids refrain from jaywalking?

[kgavala]

Originally Posted by greg42

Heh. I guess I was just blind to that when I drove through. I think the jaywalking didn't happen too much on my trips through Oakland on Forbes or 5th. But I'm sure it does. How could a bunch of college kids refrain from jaywalking?

I am one of those college kids. I never have a reason to cross in that area now, but even when I lived in Tower B I made it a point to take the bridge. I've crossed on the road a few times there, but really didn't like to.

[Caladium]

We saw a lot of it in what I believe was the Mt. Washington area. The area southwest of the city, across the river. It makes sense to me--you're less likely to walk to the crosswalk if you also have to walk uphill to get to it.

[Impala26]

The Pitt footbridge over Forbes is certainly under-utilized. Part of the problem is that it is one to two flights of stairs above street level. Maybe if there was an escalator on the one side... haha. Yeah, it's too much work for lazy college students, or the average person for that matter.

Also, the Bigelow Blvd. crosswalk between the Pitt Union and Cathedral of Learning is so dense with pedestrians at time that it almost warrants a traffic signal of sort. Though, that will never happen.

[fleetiebelle]

Also, the Bigelow Blvd. crosswalk between the Pitt Union and Cathedral of Learning is so dense with pedestrians at time that it almost warrants a traffic signal of sort. Though, that will never happen.

That's the truth. Sometimes, as a driver, you seriously cannot get a break on Bigelow because the pedestrians never stop crossing the street.

[squarian]

It would make sense to just close that block of Bigelow to cars, or else narrow it to a single lane heading toward 5th. I'm always a little amused when I notice drivers at that crosswalk becoming impatient or irate - did they somehow not notice it's a university campus? The foot traffic is going to be steady.

And you can always take your revenge on Bellefield, where the long stretch between Forbes and Filmore allows cars to build up enough speed to flatten a pedestrian, so cars never stop at the mid-block crosswalk on that street.