Pittsburgh’s spirit creates leader in car-free mobility
Igrew up in the East End, steeped in Pittsburgh’s history of innovation and entrepreneurship from Carnegie Steel to Heinz Ketchup to Salk’s polio vaccine. Yet, more and more, I see my hometown innovating and transforming in ways that could make it a blueprint for cities around the world.
When it comes to the future of transportation, I have been lucky to witness these changes firsthand. As CEO of Ford Motor Company’s micromobility unit Spin, I lead a company full of business leaders,community advocates, transportation officials, land-use experts, engineers and philanthropists whom the city ofPittsburgh has invited to help reinvent how Pittsburghers get around town withouta car.
Pittsburgh, of course, has always been a forward-thinking kind of town, and its people adaptable and resourceful. During the decade I was born, the boom of industrialism and steel production ended, and entire industries closed their doors. Between 1970 and 1990, 158,000 manufacturing jobs evaporated, and over 289,000 residentsmoved away.
But rather than let shuttered factories and steel mills decline into eventual rubble, Pittsburgh began to repurpose its streets and space to attract people and industry in new ways. The steel city redefined itself as a global center for education and medicine — the so-called “Eds and Meds” — fueled by our world-class universities and hospitals. Slowly, factories were transformed into offices and museums, warehouses into artisanal local shops, and former churches into breweries. Areas like the Hazelwood neighborhood, a former steel mill site, are being restored and revitalized to attract new businessesand propel the local economy.
Of course, as someone whose career is defined by finding ways to move people around, the changes I’m most excited about have to do with the streets. Where the automobile was long king, Pittsburgh is becoming a leader in altering the city landscape to encourage cycling. From 2000 to 2014, there’s been a 408% increase in bike commuting, the largest in the country. This year, non-profit People For Bikes ranked Pittsburgh among the top 20 cities in the U.S. for people on bicycles — hills and all.
Beyond bike lanes, Pittsburgh has also been thinking about other ways to move people around the city of the future. The city, in partnership with private companies, community groups and non-profit partners, developed an innovative plan to launch connected mobility hubsthroughout the city, with the goal of getting people out of their personal cars in equitable and affordable ways. These mobility hubs will physically connect people with shared bikes and e-scooters, allow them to pick up rental cars or safely meet a ride-share. There will be hubs throughout the city, with one app that will bring all of these services togetherat the touch of a few buttons.
These mobility hubs are part of the city’s answer to moving away from the automobile and making it easy for people to choose less polluting, more efficient, more active ways of getting around. Unforeseen was that they can also help during a pandemic. Employees lookingto make a socially distanced, lastmile bike connection to work can hop on a shared bicycle. Tourists can grab an escooter to sight-see around town in the openair. Young families can get away for a day outside the city in a car-share. Some streets have also been closed to vehicle traffic, providing more room for people to move around in a socially distanced manner. Other streets are being redesigned to prioritize pedestrian and cyclist safety, incorporating bike lanes andlimiting how fast vehicles can travel.
In launching the Move PGH program, the members of the Pittsburgh Mobility Collective are making history. Pittsburgh will become one of the first U.S. cities to adopt Mobility as a Service (MaaS), a concept adopted by many European cities that brings complementary, on-demand, integrated transportation options to its residents and tourists.
Pittsburghis innovating in all kinds of ways that will serve its residents in the future. But the changes I’m most excited about are the changes that will make the city an even more pleasant and equitable place to live. The freedom to get to work swiftly and inexpensively, enjoy excellent dining options and take in culture, and get around the city easily without the confines of a personal car are all importantto the city of the future.
As Silicon Valley chokes under the weight of its car-clogged thoroughfares, the Steel City is creating a mobility renaissance, moving from concrete and cars toward colorful bikes and scooters, green pavilions and communal interaction. I am proud of my hometown, and I look forward to seeing it become a model that other American cities will be sure to follow, once again.