Pittsburgh bike share program to expand (California, Highland Park: 2015, rent, neighborhoods)

[gg]

I think this is a good idea. I see the bikes being used quite a bit and to be honest I didn't think they would get used all that much.

Pittsburgh's Healthy Ride bike-sharing program to expand | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[ferraris]

I'm glad they are expanding, but I wish it was more than 25 stations. So much of the city is completely missed by the current coverage. It's a start.

[szug-bot]

I wish you can rent a space in the rack to automatically lock up your own bike.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

I wish you can rent a space in the rack to automatically lock up your own bike.

Do you mean so you don't have to carry your own lock around or just because there aren't enough racks around? I've been noticing more and more on-street bike racks lately, which have been sorely needed. Who knew I would have a harder time parking my bike than my car in Lawrenceville.

[_Buster]

Originally Posted by WhoIsStanwix?

Do you mean so you don't have to carry your own lock around or just because there aren't enough racks around? I've been noticing more and more on-street bike racks lately, which have been sorely needed. Who knew I would have a harder time parking my bike than my car in Lawrenceville.

Just do as they do in Philly, chain them to the lampposts and sign posts.

[xdv8]

Originally Posted by _Buster

Just do as they do in Philly...

No good advice has ever started off like that.

[Forging Steel]

Originally Posted by ferraris

I'm glad they are expanding, but I wish it was more than 25 stations. So much of the city is completely missed by the current coverage. It's a start.

Looking at the coverage map you are right, we are gonna need a lot more than 25 bikes to significantly improve citywide coverage. But progress is progress, and it would be hard to come up with the money all at once to expand it everywhere.

A quick look at the map makes me think most of these stations will be infill of current coverage (surprisingly few in Strip District, North Side) with perhaps a few in areas such as Squirrel Hill, Hazelwood, and Highland Park to expand the reach of the current coverage.

[AaronPGH]

The approach they took with focusing on one section of the city first was actually really smart. They needed a critical mass within one area, otherwise the whole thing would have failed from having too much space between stations. The first round needed to show why it makes sense for short errands –traveling 1-2 neighborhoods away and back. The rollout proved it worked, now they can start to slowly push outwards. Glad to see that's going to start happening!

[ferraris]

Oh yeah, the narrow focus of the initial roll out definitely made sense since they didn't have the resources do do a city-wide roll-out properly.

[ferraris]

Additional stops I'm hoping for, in order of their likeliness.

1. Allegheny Station - I'll be surprised if this doesn't happen. There's so many attractions and it's so close to the existing stations that it's a no-brainer. On the trail near the casino & science center could work, too.
   
   
2. Woods Run & Brighton - Randy Zotter, one of Councilwoman Harris' 2015 opponents, specifically pushed for there to be a bike share station at this intersection during his campaign. He saw it as an "if you build it, they will come" situation and thought it would help improve the immediate neighborhood. He made a big point of it at the candidate's forum hosted by the Northside Bike-Ped committee, which probably has some decent pull in deciding where to put these new stations.
   
   
3. North Shore Trail - Either at the trail head by the prison, or somewhere near the attractions in Chateau (Johnny Angel's, Bicycle Heaven, Chateau Cakery).
   
   
4. Brighton Heights - I'll be absolutely shocked if this happens anytime soon, but if the program continues to grow I could see a station or two being added. Shadeland Avenue at Legion Park is one-way and ridiculously wide, it's pretty central to the neighborhood, and offers the flattest route to other neighborhoods via the Shadeland Avenue Bridge. Brighton & Benton could work as well. Maybe on California, but California isn't really that bike friendly.