Bike commuters will take to the streets en masse Friday for the city's 14th Bike to Work Day.
Pop-up commuter cafés will be located throughout the city for cyclists to have coffee and meet other cyclists while grabbing swag bags stuffed with prizes and coupons.
Scott Bricker, executive director of Bike Pittsburgh, a bike and pedestrian advocacy group, said the event is an easy way for beginners to get started.
“People can easily find a buddy to bike with if biking is new to them, and they’re going to be completely supported along the way," he said. "It’s a great time to learn the ropes of riding a bike to work."
BikePgh is organizing ‘bike trains’ for newer riders to be led in by a seasoned conductor.
“So essentially it’s a veteran bicyclist who feels comfortable leading people in, who’s patient and comforting to some extent, so that people can ease into it, because bike commuting can be intimidating to some people,” he said.
Nearly 700 cyclists visited the commuter cafes at last year’s Bike to Work Day. Bricker said the number increases every year as the city experiences one of the highest growth rates of biking in the country.
The latest report by the League of American Bicyclists showed a 408 percent increase in Pittsburgh bike commuting since 2000, the largest jump of any city in the nation. Nationally, bicycle commuting rose about 62 percent during the same period.
“That’s due in large part to the infrastructure people are seeing all around the city and even in some neighboring municipalities,” Bricker said.
A dedicated protected bicycle lane opened in September on Penn Avenue, turning the section between Sixth and 16th streets into a one-way street for drivers and costing $108,500. The city also included a bike lane in the $150,000 update of the Clemente Bridge including milling and paving and repairs to the drainage system in early April of this year.
Another bike lane project is in the works as city officials look to a $12 million plan to reconstruct East Ohio Street.
Bricker says biking to work has many benefits as it’s healthier and more affordable than driving. He said bike lanes in the city make the option more attractive.
“People feel a lot more comfortable and safe riding on bike lanes and it’s really nice that more and more they are having a place to lock up their bikes when they get to where they’re going,” he said.
Bike Pittsburgh cautions drivers as they will see more cyclists Friday. Commuter cafes will be located in Tunnel Park in the South Side, at the Clemente statue on the North Shore, in Friendship Park in Bloomfield, at Schenley Plaza in Oakland and Market Square Downtown.
