Proposal to give Pittsburgh city employees free bike-share memberships gets preliminary OK

Pittsburgh City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a proposal that would offer free bike-share memberships to all city employees, even though portions of the city have no bike-share available.

Councilman Bobby Wilson, D-North Side, introduced legislation last week to allow Pittsburgh to partner with POGOH, the bike-share network that operates throughout the city. POGOH, owned and operated by the nonprofit Bike Share Pittsburgh, has traditional and electric-assist bikes.

“This program will offer more transit options for our employees, even part-time employees,” Wilson said, adding it could help alleviate transportation issues that some part-time experience.

He also touted the health benefits of biking and the positive environmental impacts of cutting down on car trips.

The city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure already offers bike-share memberships to its employees, Director Kim Lucas said. About 30 employees in that department participate, and they’ve taken more than 500 trips on the POGOH cycles.

“I think it’s really important we practice what we preach,” Lucas said. “We’re trying to encourage people to get around without cars.”

Expanding the offering citywide would cost about $35,000 annually, according to the legislation.

David White, POGOH’s executive director, said he estimated about 20% of the city’s roughly 3,000 employees will use the service if it’s offered.

The membership would allow for unlimited 30-minute bike rides, he said. Typically, the service costs $4 per 30 minutes on a pedal bike or $5.50 per 30 minutes on an electric-assist bike.

Annual memberships typically cost $120 per year, White said, though there are discounts available for low-income residents.

Councilwomen Deb Gross, D-Highland Park, and Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, said they were supportive of the free bike-share memberships and would like to see the city offer similar incentives for Pittsburgh Regional Transit.

Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, said he felt the free bike-share membership proposal was a “great concept,” but pointed out that it wouldn’t impact all city employees equally.

There are no POGOH bike-share stations in his council district — which includes Brookline, Beechview, Bon Air, Overbrook and Carrick — or in the city’s West End area, represented by Council President Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End.

Within the next month, POGOH will have 60 stations with 600 bikes throughout the city, White said. But he acknowledged there are no immediate plans to expand into the South Hills or West End areas.

Coghill said he couldn’t support spending money on something that wouldn’t benefit his constituents — particularly when there were more urgent needs, like buying much-needed public safety vehicles to replace an outdated fleet that officials have said struggles to keep up with the city’s needs.

“I have to tell my district we have outdated, inadequate vehicles and we don’t have a POGOH station in our district. To me, it’s (the cost of) a (police) cruiser at this point,” Coghill said. “I might feel differently if I knew my district had access to it. For city workers in my district, we’re miles from a station.”

Kail-Smith echoed similar frustration that her district wasn’t seeing projects completed there and wouldn’t have access to the bike-share stations, and she also said that public safety vehicles should be a higher priority.

“We want to see something for the tax money they’re paying, too,” she said.

Kail-Smith said she otherwise supported the idea of offering incentives such as bike-share memberships to city employees, particularly those who aren’t paid as well in the city as they might be in other nearby areas.

Coghill abstained from Wednesday’s preliminary vote, while Councilman Ricky Burgess, D-Point Breeze, was not present. All other council members supported it.

Council will likely take a final vote on the measure next week.