Pedal Power: Pittsburgh Celebrates Bike To Work Day
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Today is Bike to Work Day in Pittsburgh.
Commuters were encouraged to get outside, get some exercise, and ride their bikes to the office.
It's all part of Pittsburgh's effort to become a more bike-friendly city.
"One-third of all traffic were bikes during 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. last year in the Penn Avenue bike lanes. So, it is really cool to see that one-third of all traffic were bikes," Bike Pittsburgh's Alexandria Shewczyk said.
Those numbers came on Bike to Work Day in Pittsburgh last year. Yet, there are many who have never tried pedal power to get to the office.
"I hope that we have safe connections for people to go by bike and I hope drivers take extra caution and care when they see bikes on the road. It could be their first time today biking to work, biking to school, so just be kind and cautious to cyclists," Shewczyk said.
There are two different commuter cafés set up by Bike Pittsburgh. One is in Market Square and the other is in Schenley Plaza in Oakland. They want to encourage riders to take part in upcoming recreational rides.
"We have a lot of different tabling materials for you. We are talking about Open Streets Pittsburgh, which is next Sunday. We are talking about Pedal Pittsburgh, which is our big 25th anniversary bike ride celebration. It is the biggest bike ride in Pennsylvania," Shewczyk said.
A lot of Bike Pittsburgh's efforts focus on teaching the benefits -- environmental and others -- of the decision to decide to ride.
"The weather is a big factor. I think we will match that number or grow even larger. Our biking in Pittsburgh has grown -- so we are really hoping that through our different classes our educational classes that we are going to get people on bikes to bike to work," Shewczyk said.