The following the second installment of a first-person account from Armstrong County Commissioner Anthony Shea regarding his recent bike trip from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh:

In my last article, I told of my bike trip starting in Washington DC and ultimately finishing 334 in Pittsburgh, PA using the C & O and GAP Trails. The goal of this series of articles is to highlight how bike trails reinvigorate the towns they traverse, and to promote our county’s own Armstrong Trails.

We left off in our last article finishing the day in Williamsport, MD completing 99 miles of the 334 mile bike trip.

We will now pick up the thread on day four.

Day four

July 25, the morning started with breakfast at the Waffle House next to the Williamsport Red Roof Inn.

After breakfast, it got real interesting, I agreed to do a live radio interview on 1020 KDKA AM and 100.1 FM hosted by Larry Richert and Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) CEO, Rich Fitzgerald.

In our interview, I talked to Larry and Rich about the bike trip to that point, plus our plans for the upcoming day.

I also explained how the towns along the C & O Trail had truly benefitted from the trail, becoming conduits for business activity.

All in all, the interview went well.

This day would be an easy one for us, my wife, Kerry, daughter, Abby, and I, only had 24 miles on the itinerary to get from Williamsburg to Hancock, Md.

The C & O Trail again followed the old canal towpath with its familiar locks and aqueducts.

In places, the canal water was very green with algae; I truly hoped we did not have to purify this water in a pinch.

While biking, I received a call from my wife, Kerry who was a little behind us; she said she was stuck. I asked if she had an issue with her bike, a flat tire perhaps.

She said, “no, there’s a snake on the trail”.

I said, “just ride around it”. She said it was big enough to cross the entire width of the trail.

Eventually, the snake moved on and Kerry was able to proceed.

We arrived in Hancock, Mile Marker 124.1, relatively early in the day.

As we entered Hancock, we saw a large bike outfitter, C & O Bicycle, based right along the trail.

The business offered many services, and was a magnet for the passing bikers.

One of the services offered was a shuttle; Kerry and Abby opted to skip the 60 mile bike ride the next day and reserve a shuttle from Hancock to Cumberland, Md., instead.

Being saddle sore, I purchased padded bike shorts and a Cloud 9 bike seat; the seat supposedly sported the widest girth available at the shop.

Extra real estate for this part of the body, in the form of a padded seat, is a good thing.

That night, we stayed at a Super 8 in Hancock.

Luckily, there were no hills getting to the hotel. We had dinner that night at the close by Potomac Grill on U.S. Route 522.

Day five

July 26, Kerry and Abby parted ways with me in the morning taking the shuttle from Hancock to Cumberland, as I started my 60 plus mile bike trek to Cumberland on the C & O Trail.

The weather was perfect this morning with zero humidity and cool air.

The trail was perfect, albeit very remote, and I was moving along just enjoying the scenery.

That all changed in an instant when at about five miles into the ride, my back tire blew out.

Fortuitously, I broke down next to a picnic bench, if that is a consolation.

I easily took off the tire and changed the inner tube and re-inflated it.

The problem came when I tried to re-attach the back gear mechanism; I hope only the trees heard some of the expletives that I blurted out in the heat of the moment.

Right in the middle of wrangling with the chain, I received a call from my colleague, John Strate, who wanted to ask how the trip was going; I guess timing is everything.

I also received a call from my daughter, Abby who saw that I had not moved in almost an hour on her family locator.

She called to ensure I was alive and not in a ditch somewhere along the trail with buzzards circling over the carcass.

I finally got the bike all back together, though the wheel looked somewhat crooked.

It reminded me of the car repair scene in the National Lampoon’s Vacation movie where Clark Griswold jumped the family truckster and had it repaired at the shady garage.

Since I was able to proceed, I made my way down the trail.

The big casualty in all of this were my hands and arms up to my elbows were completely black with bicycle grease.

When I came to one of the hand pumped water wells (non-potable water), I tried to pump the water and wash up.

Let me tell you, using the pump for this type of operation is a two person job.

This would have been quite comical to watch if it weren’t me.

I also realized I did not have any soap, so I tried using dirt as a substitute with no success.

Things got worse when I wiped the sweat from my face as I biked down the trail and the dirt and grease also transferred to my face as well.

Luckily, there are no pictures.

Nonetheless, I proceeded onward and the miles passed quickly as I biked toward Cumberland; it seemed like I was biking through a green tunnel at points, with views of the Potomac River appearing every once in a while through the rare breaks in the foliage.

Every so often, I heard the distant echoes of train whistles from across the Potomac River but was never able to see any actual trains.

I saw a beaver climb out of the canal and jump right back into the water after taking a look at me; I’ll try not to draw any conclusions here.

I saw hundreds of turtles basking in the sun on the various logs that came out of the green canal water; they all stuck their heads straight up in the air.

It seemed like the biggest turtle got the top spot on the log.

I guess everyone wants to be the top dog, or turtle in this case.

I also saw a box turtle and a snake on the trail.

The next point of interest was the Paw Paw Tunnel at Mile Marker 155.2.

The incline on the C& O Trail increased as I got closer to the tunnel’s entrance.

Also present in this area were many tourists walking to and from the tunnel on either side of it.

The 3,118 foot long tunnel itself was very dark, with air cool wafting through it, with a rough walkway that paralleled the unseen canal below in the darkness.

Water dripped from the ceiling in places with the echoes amplified by the acoustics of the tunnel.

I used my I-phone’s flashlight app to guide my way through the tunnel.

I came upon a sign for the town of Oldtown, MD at Mile Marker 166.7; the town sort of reminded me of Templeton from Armstrong County.

Looking up the road into town, I saw a hand painted sign advertising food and drinks; I almost missed it.

I pedaled up to an old elementary school now turned restaurant/market and walked inside.

I am sure I looked very rough at this point with my grease stained face, arms and hands, plus not having shaved for a week.

The sweet older lady behind the counter did not even seem fazed one bit by my appearance as she took my food order (bless her soul).

I was finally able to clean up in the restroom while my food was being cooked.

The air conditioned room, coupled with being cleaned up and eating a good meal were like nirvana at this point.

Other bike packers came and left as I ate.

I relaxed for a while in the cool air.

With approximately 18 more miles to go to Cumberland, I got back on the trail. The C & O Trail still had its typical locks and aqueducts.

The scenery changed as I got closer to Cumberland with the trees opening up to sweeping views of the Potomac River, the city of Cumberland, and mountains in the distance.

Ironically, about five minutes out from my destination point for the day, the YouTube account on my iPhone spontaneously started, and randomly played the live version of Neil Diamond’s song “America”.

It seemed kind of fitting, so I cranked up the volume as I finished up the 184.4 mile C & O Trail portion of the trip.

Waiting on the trail at the C & O Terminus were my wife, Kerry and daughter, Abby. It was good seeing them.

I think they were taking bets on whether I would make it or not.

We walked into the Fairfield Inn which was right off the trail.

The hotel was fully equipped to accommodate bike packers.

The town of Cumberland appears to have fully embraced the C & O and Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trails.

From bike shops to restaurants, all the businesses around the trails appeared to cater to the cyclists.

There were many bike racks around town, and even bike lockers.

We later ate dinner at the Crabby Pig Restaurant.

Multiple folks kept recommending this restaurant as we biked up the C & O Trail.

We all had their specialty, crab cakes and lobster bisque soup.

Even with the padded bike shorts, I was reminded of my saddle soreness sitting on the hard wooden seats at the restaurant.

As we left the restaurant, a concert was playing in the park adjacent to the hotel.

We listened to it for a while in the waning evening sunlight and warm summer breeze.

Day six

July 27, Kerry and Abby drove back to Leechburg in the morning, as I started my journey on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trail from Cumberland to Meyersdale, PA.

The trip out of Cumberland on the GAP Trail was literally uphill for the first 24 miles to the Eastern Continental Divide.

Cumberland is at 605 feet above sea level and the Eastern Continental Divide 2,392’ above sea level for a 1,787 feet elevation gain.

Without fail, folks on E-bikes asked if I were “ok” each time I got off my bike and walked for a few minutes here and there; I held back my sarcastic comments and just re-assured them I was good to go.

The first notable milestone on the GAP Trail was the Bone Cave at Mile Marker 4.0.

During the excavation of this section of railroad, 44 different types of mammal fossils were discovered, of which, 16% of them are now extinct.

A couple of the now extinct fossils found at the site were the Pleistocene cave bear and saber toothed tiger cat.

Some of these fossils are on exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.

Tourist used the adjacent railroad tracks by this section of the GAP Trail to take some type of pedal powered rail car back down the long hill.

Mile Marker 15.5 offered a trail access point into Frostburg, MD; the parking lot here overflowed with cars with bike racks.

The GAP Trail crossed the Mason Dixon line at Mile Marker 20.5.

The Mason Dixon Line is the pre-Civil War demarcation line between Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Many of folks here were snapping pictures of the marker.

The trail had a couple smaller tunnels, such as the Brush Tunnel and Borden Tunnel; but, the longest tunnel on the bike trip was the Big Savage Tunnel at 3,294.6 feet long.

Again, the tunnel seemed to draw a lot of tourists to it.

The trail close to the Continental Divide offered many sweeping views of the valleys and mountains in the distance under a cloudless sapphire blue sky.

Many large windmills could be seen churning on distant mountain tops.

I found all of this truly awe inspiring.

One of the main milestones for the day was crossing over the Eastern Continental Divide at Mile Marker 23.7.

The Eastern Continental Divide is the point where water east of it goes to the Atlantic Ocean and west of it flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

At this point, the GAP Trail was all downhill for the next eight miles to my stop for the night in Meyersdale, PA (Mile Marker 31.9).

This area of the GAP Trail had a boreal forest feel to it, with its thick canopy of Canadian hemlocks and rhododendrons lining the trail.

I pulled into Meyersdale relatively early for the day at about 12:30 p.m.

Adjacent to the GAP Trail in Meyersdale was a refurbished train station turned museum and tourist center.

The center had a lot of pictures and artifacts from the early railroad days.

The museum also had a room with a large miniature railroad train display.

The train station was a hub of activity for promoting Meyersdale tourism.

Volunteers fielded questions that ranged from the history of the area, to places to eat and stay.

I personally pre-reserved a room for the night at Yoder’s Bed and Breakfast.

Check-in at Yoder’s was very simple.

I talked at length with one of the co-owners of the B&B, a husband and wife team; he said the trail accounted for about 85% of their business which lasted from spring to fall with the winter months being slow.

With my wardrobe limited, I chose to eat at the Take Six Pizza & Subs restaurant versus the fancier White House restaurant in town.

This is where we will end this installment of the trail series.

The last installment will detail the GAP Trail from Meyersdale, PA to its terminus at Point State Park in Pittsburgh to include my guest riders on the last day.

Additionally, I will detail both the current state, and future plans for the bike trails in and around Armstrong County.

View the full article at leadertimes.com.

What is the Water Resource Center?

Water resource management is a large and growing field with continuous emerging concerns. The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission Water Resource Center (WRC) helps local governments by providing technical support, educational resources, and information about water issues. The WRC also helps communities work together on regional water challenges.

Stormwater management and flooding were identified as the top regional priorities in the region. The WRC’s mission is to support regional cooperation, provide education, and help member governments manage water resources more effectively.

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The following lists group useful external resource websites by type so they are easy to find and use. The links include government agencies, Pennsylvania programs, funding sources, and regional planning tools.

WRC on Youtube

View past webinars and more on SPC’s YouTube channel

These materials were developed by the Water Resource Center for municipalities and counties to use in educating the public. Please feel free to use these materials in your community, providing credit to SPC Water Resource Center.

If you have a request for specific plan document created outside the WRC, or for any past workshop materials, please contact wrc@spcregion.org.

We’d love to hear from you!

Send us an email at wrc@spcregion.org.

The following is a first-person account from Armstrong County Commissioner Anthony Shea regarding his recent bike trip from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh:

Shortly after I took office as Armstrong County Commissioner on Jan 2, 2024, I received the news of Armstrong Trails Executive Director Chris Ziegler’s plans to inaugurate a new 10-mile section of the Armstrong Trails from Schenley to Rosston on April 1st.

Moreover, Armstrong Trails had an old railroad bridge refurbished that crossed the Kiskiminetas River was also included in the project.

These two new additions (trail & bridge) now provide a contiguous trail corridor that stretches the entire length of Armstrong County (35 miles).

The northern end of Armstrong Trails in turn, connects to the Redbank Valley Trails which terminates another 42 miles further in Brookville creating a 91 contiguous mile bike trail corridor from Schenley to Brookville, with another 9 miles of trail added to it with the Sligo Spur.

Plans are currently in the works to add a five mile connector trail from the Hyde Park Walking Bridge in Leechburg to Schenley.

A flyover project in Westmoreland County will connect the Kiskiminetas River bridge in Schenley to the Tredway Trail adding an 8 mile trail corridor to Lower Burrell.

Furthermore, a trail corridor from the Tredway Trail to the Rt. 356 Bridge in Freeport will connect Armstrong Trails to the existing 22-mile Freeport to Butler Trail.

These interconnections from Schenley to Freeport will create a 126 mile trail corridor from Butler to Brookville via the Armstrong Trails.

The ultimate plan is to connect Pittsburgh to Lake Erie via Armstrong Trails.

I will talk more about these various efforts at the end this article series.

I then got to thinking, watch out now.

Pittsburgh has a bike trail that runs to Cumberland, MD, the Great Allegheny Passage or GAP Trail.

I further saw there was another bike trail that connected Cumberland, MD to Washington DC, the Chesapeake and Ohio (C & O) Canal Towpath Trail (a.k.a. C & O Trail).

To learn more, I researched my go to source for info of all things — YouTube.

I watched numerous videos of different folks who biked these trails; this looked like a lot of fun.

With that, I made the decision to bike from Washington DC back to Pittsburgh (334.1 miles).

I told my wife, Kerry, of my idea and she was not quite as enthusiastic as I was about it.

When I floated the idea by my 16 year old daughter, Abby, she looked at me like I had three heads, and asked “why we could not go to Myrtle Beach or somewhere else like normal families”.

The day, April 1st, came for the inauguration of the new Armstrong Trails segment.

On hand for the event were numerous dignitaries to include former Allegheny County Executive and current Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) CEO, Rich Fitzgerald.

I told Rich what I was thinking of doing, bike backing the C & O and GAP Trails; he said, “it was a good idea, and that he had done it four times already”.

Rich said “if I did the trek, he’d meet me on the last day to bike into Pittsburgh”.

After the formal ribbon cutting, Rich Fitzgerald, Chris Ziegler, my daughter, Abby and I did a short 10-mile bike ride up the new section of Armstrong Trails.

After seeing how well Rich and Chris moved on their bikes, I knew I needed to get in better shape, and quick, before taking on such an endeavor myself.

Fast forward to late July, the day had come to embark on our journey.

Kerry, Abby and I had done many practice runs up and down Armstrong Trails and were ready, at least we thought we were.

Also, my wife and daughter only wanted to do half of the trip.

Our plan had us driving to Cumberland, MD and staging our car for Kerry and Abby to do the C & O Trail only, and then drive back home to Leechburg.

I in turn, would do both trails (C & O & GAP Trails).

Day one

July 22 — We started our trek in earnest, having arrived in Cumberland, MD the night before to stage our car.

We took an AMTRAK Train from Cumberland, MD to Washington DC.

Our attendant at the Cumberland train station said we were lucky with the train being on time for 9:30 a.m.

The gentleman said he had a connection to Ford City after seeing my Divine Redeemer 5K Ford City t-shirt; he said his Dad had worked in Ford City at PPG for a while after being laid off from another plant – small world.

Even in coach, the seats on the train were nice and roomy.

Riding on the train gave a backyard view to America. Every so often, I could see snippets of C & O Trail across the Potomac River as we progressed toward Washington DC.

After the four hour train ride, we entered Union Station in Washington DC about 1:30 p.m.

We emerged from track level of the train station to the terminal level and were thrust into a sea of humanity; the place was packed with baggage laden passengers scurrying about.

After eating a quick lunch, we exited the nicely air conditioned Union Rail Station and thrust into the 90 plus degree oven outside.

From here, it did not take too long to get oriented and bike toward the Capitol Building.

We then went along the Washington Mall making our way to our next waypoint, the Lincoln Memorial.

The mall grounds were packed full of people.

Every practical open spot along the mall seemed to have a food truck, or some vendor of some type in it selling their wares.

I am amazed every time I see the Washington Monument and White House.

We stopped by the Lincoln Memorial, and got ice cream floats.

The Coca Cola float I had was absolutely amazing, though we all suffered brain freeze multiple times.

I think the extreme heat exasperated this condition a bit.

Numerous folks played volleyball just beside us as we ate, oblivious to the heat.

We then followed the Rock Creek Trail along the Tidal Basin to get the C & O Trail southern terminus.

Finding Mile Marker 0 of the C & O Trail was a challenge in and of itself.

After a few false leads, we finally found the infamous C & O Trail Mile 0 granite marker in Georgetown; the marker was well hidden behind the Thompson Boat Center.

The marker already had several folks queued up for their ceremonial pictures. We talked to a couple just ahead of us from Morgantown, WV; they said they had just finished a trip from Pittsburgh to Washington DC and thoroughly enjoyed it.

We finally got our turn for the money shot at the Mile 0 Marker and were on our way.

We then found out the C & O Trail was detoured shortly after getting under way.

The trip out Georgetown quickly turned from city sprawl to desolate countryside.

We did make a slight mistake in our navigational efforts and got off the C & O Trail inadvertently staying too long on the Capitol Crescent Trail.

Two miles off course, we finally realized we were on the wrong trail! We were lost and had to backtrack.

After our detour, we got back on track on the C & O Trail at about Mile Marker 6. The next 10.7 miles of the trail followed the actual C & O Canal Tow Path.

The canal in this section was in various states of repair/dis-repair.

Along the trail in this section was a replica canal boat.

On a bridge, close to the replica, I came upon a young couple standing face to face.

They had not noticed me as I biked toward them.

I watched as the young man dropped to his knee and handed something to the girl, presumably an engagement ring.

She hugged him, I can only assume she said “yes”. I just biked by — the thought did cross my mind of offering to take a picture, but I did not want to spoil the moment for them.

I suspect if the answer was “no” someone may have got pushed off of the bridge into the canal water.

Further up the trail at Mile Marker 14.1, we came upon the Great Falls.

This spectacular landmark was easily accessible from the C & O Trail.

I was amazed at the pure power of the Potomac River as it roared through Mather Gorge. Many tourists also enjoyed this remarkable view as well.

At about 8:30 p.m., way later than planned, we arrived at Lockhouse 21; I had reserved the Lockhouse ahead of time as our lodging arrangement for the night.

The two bedroom lockhouse was furnished in a circa 1910 time period; it had many historic pictures. The one picture that stood out was of a young woman in a bridal dress.

The lockhouse did not provide bedding or towels, so we planned ahead and brought them with us.

Day two

July 23 — We got up early to head out to our next destination, Brunswick, MD.

The C & O Trail continued to follow the canal.

Some of the canal pools contained water, others just mowed grass and others were just filled with debris and green algae filled water.

We stopped at White’s Ferry, MD excited to get a good meal about 20 miles into our day at Mile Marker 35.5.

Unfortunately, the eating establishment was closed on Sunday and Mondays; we ate salami sandwiches.

White’s Ferry was one of the last remaining cable operated ferries in the country when it recently went out of operation in 2020.

When in operation, the ferry connected the nearby Maryland towns along the Potomac River to Leesburg, VA.

Plans are currently in the works to reconstitute the old ferry at some point in the future.

We later rode across the Monocracy Aqueduct at Mile Marker 42.2.

This impressive stone structure was 516 feet long and carried the C & O Canal over a large stream.

We arrived at the town of Point of Rocks, MD, Mile Marker, 48.8 at about 2:00 p.m.

We walked our bikes up to the first eating establishment we saw, actually the only one, Big Belly’s restaurant. Luckily, it was open.

As we walked in, we must have looked like a bunch of poor souls because the young man behind the counter said for us each to “grab a bottle of water on the house”.

Maybe he was just afraid one of us would pass out right there.

The food, gyros and cheese fries, were very good.

The last 6 miles into Brunswick, MD were a breeze.

The hardest part of that day however, was the 1.7 mile hike up the steepest hill I have ever seen to the Travelodge Also, a key lesson we learned on the trail that day was the C & O Canal Trail management had discontinued its purification of the water wells on the trail. We had to ration water all day that day.

Day three

Tuesday, July 24, 2024. We started the day in Brunswick, MD eating at an oldies themed diner co-located with the Travelodge.

The old time diner played Elvis songs, had nostalgic furnishings and pictures but required one to scan in a QR code to both order and pay for the meals on line; only then was the food delivered by a waitress in a poodle skirt.

The use of QR codes and ordering on the internet sort of took away some of the old time nostalgia.

After breakfast, we went back down the hill back through Brunswick to the C & O Canal and proceeded northward.

Six miles into the trip, Mile Marker 60.7, we saw the sign for Harpers Ferry. We locked up our bikes and walked across the Potomac River on a foot bridge to the small West Virginia village.

Being the location for the Appalachian Trail headquarters, the town had a very good outdoor gear outfitter in it.

We were able to purchase a camel back for my daughter, as well as water purification tablets, if we needed them.

Being on bikes, we could not get too many souvenirs with space very limited.

I hope to pass back through Harpers Ferry again to learn more about the John Brown Rebellion, and also someday possibly as an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker.

After buying supplies, we then crossed back over the foot bridge into Maryland and kept heading north to our destination for the day, Williamsport, MD.

As before, the trail followed the canal towpath. At Mile Marker 69.4, we crossed the Antietam Creek aqueduct, not too far from this location was the famous Antietam Civil War battlefield.

At Mile Marker 85.6, we came upon the Big Slackwater. This piece of the trail followed a dammed up section of the Potomac River.

Back in the day, C & O Canal goers used the Potomac River proper versus a separate canal for this portion of their journey.

The elevated trail was paved and easy to traverse, though it was a bit toasty mid-day with no shade. This area of the C & O trail was completely refurbished to its current state in 2012 eliminating a long off-trail detour.

We arrived at Williamsport, MD, Mile Marker 99.4 about 4:00 p.m.

Again, we had to walk up hill over a mile to get to our hotel, the Red Roof Inn; what is so easy to get to in a car becomes much more daunting via bike after 44 miles of trail riding.

This is where we will end this installment of the three article series. The next installment will detail the C&O Trail from Williamsport, MD to Cumberland, MD plus a KDKA interview on the trail.

For additional info regarding Armstrong Trails, see their website: armstrongtrails.org/.

For questions or comments regarding this series of articles, feel free to reach out to Armstrong County Commissioner Anthony Shea (Major – AF – Ret) at agshea@co.armstrong.pa.us.

Vie the full article at leadertimes.com.

Pittsburgh is building a nice nest egg for a proposed bicycle-pedestrian project in part of East Liberty, but the timing and complete cost of the work aren’t decided yet.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced $49.5 million in grants last week under the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside program, including $1.07 million for the bicycle project. Last month, the city received a $1.5 million grant from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission for the same project.

The project involves bicycle and pedestrian improvements on Negley Avenue between Friendship Avenue and Broad Street. Jacob Williams, spokesman for Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, called it a “wonderful project” that’s in its early stages of engineering and design so the expected cost and start of construction haven’t been determined yet.

“The city is supportive of this project and will provide financial investment into the project if needed,” he said in an email response to questions.

According to descriptions in the grant awards, the project will include bike lanes with a new traffic light at Negley and Penn avenues with bump-outs to reduce the distance for pedestrians crossing the intersection; a queuing lane for bikers turning left on Coral Street; and a speed cushion between Friendship and Coral to reduce speed for motor vehicles and improve safety.

Intersections also will include highly visible crosswalks, ADA ramps and audible push buttons to help people with disabilities.

Overall, Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll announced grants for 55 projects across the state. Those projects include others to improve bicycle-pedestrian safety, provide safer access to schools and extend trails to connect communities.

“A diverse transportation network that is both accessible and safe is the cornerstone of healthy connected communities,” Carroll said in a news release. “I am excited to see the investment in communities around the state to improve access to critical services.”

There were two other grants in Allegheny County: $38,000 to Bike Pittsburgh and $301,984 to Ross.

Bike Pittsburgh plans to use its grant for a pilot program to conduct at least five distribution and education events at Pittsburgh Public or charter schools. The group will hold assemblies or make classroom visits to encourage students to bike or walk to school safely.

At each event, the group will distribute free bike lights and helmets to students. Bike Pittsburgh plans to expand the program in future years.

In Ross, the township will install a new portion of sidewalk from the Jim Shorkey Toyota dealership to McKnight Road near the Browns Lane intersection. The project also will include a partial retaining wall along the sidewalk and an improved Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus stop on Browns Lane.

View the full article at unionprogress.com.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission announced $21.3 million in discretionary grants Wednesday that will help fund Pittsburgh Regional Transit’s first micro transit project, improve road safety along three Pittsburgh roadways, nearly double the size of Bike Pittsburgh’s rental program and expand the trail network in southwestern suburbs in Allegheny County.

The commission, which sets priorities for federal transportation projects in a 10-county region, gets money from the federal Department of Transportation every year to fund projects in three categories. This year, the agency awarded funds to seven projects in two categories: two trail projects under the Transportation Alternatives Set Aside Program and the others under the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality Program.

All of the grants will be available beginning in 2025.

Here’s a breakdown of the projects that were funded:

Pittsburgh Regional Transit

The agency will receive two grants, $3.9 million to help start its first micro transit service and $7.4 million to help pay for stations between Squirrel Hill and Oakland that were left out of its Bus Rapid Transit project.

Spokesman Adam Brandolph said the agency is “super excited” to get funding for the micro transit project, which is designed to connect unserved local communities with each other and with PRT’s main service corridors. That type of service was one of the key recommendations in the agency’s NEXTransit long-range plan adopted in 2021.

The grant will help to pay for the first step of the project, determining where to try micro transit and how to deliver it. The agency will consider two locations recommended in the long-range plan, the Tarentum-Brackenridge-Harrison area in the Allegheny Valley and the McKeesport-Versailles area in the Monongahela Valley.

During the planning stage, the agency will hold public meetings in both areas to determine the need and types of service residents want. There could be several options, including on-demand service or regular routes using full-size buses or smaller vehicles, possibly zero-emission vehicles.

“The $3.9 million is going to help us go to the communities and help us determine what those plans might look like,” Brandolph said. “There’s still a lot we have to figure out about how it will work.

“One thing is it will certainly connect to existing routes.”

Brandolph stressed that the first program will be a pilot project, but if it is successful the agency plans to try it elsewhere. The overall project is expected to cost $11.5 million.

The grant for BRT will allow the agency to restore the Squirrel Hill wing to its University Line that will connect Downtown Pittsburgh and Oakland with exclusive bus lanes to improve reliability. Construction began on the $291 million project in September, but PRT eliminated extensions to Squirrel Hill and Highland Park when federal officials questioned whether it had included enough money to cover unexpected costs during construction.

The grant will allow the agency to build six stations in the 1.6-mile stretch between Bellefield Avenue in Oakland and Forbes and Murray avenues in Squirrel Hill, Brandolph said. The total cost of the project, which won’t begin until the main University Line is finished in 2026, is expected to be about $15 million.

The agency continues to look for funding for the Highland Park branch, Brandolph said.

Pittsburgh road projects

These are the road projects funded in Pittsburgh:

• $3.6 million for improvements to Brownsville Road in the South Hills, including four signalized intersections including Maytide  Street, Biscayne Drive-Becks Run Road and Nobles Lane. The signals will include audible crossing instructions, better nighttime lighting, and highly visible crosswalks, some of which will be raised.
• $1.5 million to improve signal timing on East Ohio Street on the North Side to reduce congestion and improve air quality from Cedar Avenue to Chestnut Street. Other improvements will include raised crosswalks and signals that detect pedestrians and bicyclists.
• $1.5 million to add bicycle and pedestrian improvements on Negley Avenue in East Liberty between Friendship Avenue and Broad Street. The work will include adding a speed table between Friendship and Coral Street to curb speeding near the bike lane crossing, highly visual crosswalks, new traffic signals and a bumpout at Penn Avenue and Negley so pedestrians have a shorter distance to cross the street.
  Bike Pittsburgh

Bike Share Pittsburgh’s $2.1 million grant is part of a larger capital project that will allow the agency to nearly double its network of regular and electric-assist rental bikes and stations and extend the service to new areas, said Executive Director David White.

The agency plans to establish 50 new rental stations and buy another 500 bikes, two-thirds of them electric-assist and the rest pedal bikes. In addition to adding more stations in Larimer, Homewood and Oakland, Bike Pittsburgh will move into new neighborhoods such as Lincoln-Lemington, Belmar, Squirrel Hill, Point Breeze, Manchester, California Kirkbride, and Highland Park.

White said the agency will conduct community outreach in the neighborhoods to finalize the exact locations of the new stations, some of which could be installed beginning next year.

Trails

A $1 million grant will help Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority extend the Panhandle Trail by 3 miles from Collier to the park-and-ride lot in Carnegie. That is a portion of the inactive Pittsburgh & Ohio Central rail line.

The county completed a feasibility study for the extension in 2022.

The trail currently runs from Walkers Mill Station in Collier through Washington County to the Harmony Creek parking area in West Virginia.

In South Fayette, the township will use its $800,000 grant to help pay for a new trail system through the 190-acre Fairview Park, said Paula Willis, township parks and recreation director.

The trail system in the park will connect with nature trails and other trails outside the park, Willis said. The township now has about 90% of the funding for the project and has started design of the 10-foot-wide multi-modal park trails.

The park was established at the former site of Mayview State Hospital more than 30 years ago.

View the full article at unionprogress.com.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) is awarding Bike Share Pittsburgh (dba POGOH) $2,160,000 in grant funding to support bikeshare station expansions, ebikes, and charging stations. POGOH applied for grant funding under its Mobility Justice in Mircomobility initiative. POGOH is a 501c3 non-profit organization located in the Strip District and it operates Pittsburgh’s bikeshare system.

“Our mission has always been to provide Pittsburgh with a sustainable, equitable, and affordable mobility service for both residents and visitors,” said David White, Executive Director of Bike Share Pittsburgh. “Over the years, Pittsburgh has been completely transformed by introducing new people to biking as a mobility option, and by the robust support received from the private and public sectors. This grant will enable us to expand our reach within the city by expanding POGOH’s availability in new areas, and we are thankful to SPC for its continued support. We couldn’t do this work without them.”  

SPC recently completed the selection process for its discretionary competitive grant program which selects certain projects in the region to receive federal funding. The organization has a selection committee that reviews grant applications submitted from counties and municipalities within its coverage area. The grant applications are then competitively reviewed and scored to ensure that these projects adhere to federal standards.        

As the region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Local Development District (LDD), and Economic Development District (EDD), SPC receives an allotment of federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation that it can award to entities that have improvement projects which qualify under three areas: Congestion Mitigation Air Quality program (CMAQ), Carbon Reduction program (CRP), and the Transportation Alternatives Set Aside (TASA) program.

The CMAQ and CRP programs accept applications from counties and municipalities that have projects which will help to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion. Eligible initiatives under these two programs can include pedestrian and bicycle facility projects, transit improvement programs, electric vehicles and charging stations, congestion reduction and traffic flow improvements, and diesel engine retrofitting/replacements. The TASA program accepts applications from counties and municipalities for projects that support transportation alternatives, including pedestrian and bicycle facilities, improving access to public transportation, enhanced mobility, recreational trails, safe routes to schools, and environmental mitigation. 

“Bike Share Pittsburgh has demonstrated that bikesharing can be a reliable, accessible, and convenient transportation option for many,” said Rich Fitzgerald, Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. “The organization is committed to increasing accessibility and connectivity for City residents and visitors, and we’re proud to support their efforts.”       Initiatives like Bike Share Pittsburgh’s Mobility Expansion Project reflect the vision of SPC’s Long Range Transportation Plan which strives to ensure that the region is connected and has multimodal mobility for all. It also aligns with SPC’s Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Strategic Action Plan. TDM focuses on the decisions that people and businesses make every day about travel, and involves providing travelers with information, options, and incentives that expand travel choices.

Media Inquiries: Caitlin O’Connor
Cell: 412-719-5366
coconnor@spcregion.org

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About Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission:
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) is the federally designated metropolitan planning organization (MPO), local development district (LDD), and economic development district (EDD) serving 10 counties. The organization’s coverage area includes Allegheny including the City of Pittsburgh, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland counties. It is responsible for planning and prioritizing the use of state and federal transportation funding and establishing economic/workforce development priorities for the region.

PRESS RELEASE DOWNLOAD (PDF)

A grant from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission will provide $450,492 in funding for a sidewalk and dedicated bike path along Saltsburg Avenue, White Township officials announced at a meeting Wednesday.

Communication specialist Chauncey Ross said the township will be responsible for $60,000 in engineering costs for design fees.

The grant will fund a project that will be developed this year, with ground likely being broken in 2023, Ross said.

It will provide a continuation of bike lanes that run down Rose Street beginning near Hoss’s restaurant and ending at Saltsburg Avenue. The bike lane would be extended to Rustic Lodge Road, and a sidewalk would also be constructed along Saltsburg Avenue.

The project promotes safe walking and the use of alternative transportation, Ross said.

Read the full story at www.indianagazette.com

For the past few years, Clark Haynes has been strapping sensors onto bicycles to keep riders safe.

Using some of the same technology that powers driverless cars, the AI-enabled sensors, called Copilot, can detect a potential collision with a vehicle and thwart it by flashing a light or blasting a sound.

An alumnus of autonomous vehicle companies Aurora and Uber ATG, Mr. Haynes originally thought of the sensors as the end product. But through a partnership with the city of Pittsburgh, he realized the underlying data they gather might be more valuable.

“We’ve actually now generated more revenue using that than our consumer side,” said Mr. Haynes, founder of Velo AI.

The approach also caught the attention of the federal government. Velo announced Wednesday that it received $200,000 from the Department of Transportation through a new program called Complete Streets AI.

The Lawrenceville-based startup is one of 12 companies to receive the awards and the only one based in Pennsylvania.

“The funding we’re announcing today supports our country’s small businesses and startups so they can harness cutting-edge advancements, deploy them in local communities, and make our streets safer,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement announcing the awards.

Velo’s model is relatively simple.

“A city comes to us, we ship them a box of our devices, they deploy them throughout the city with volunteers,” Mr. Haynes explained.

Such participants then ride certain routes of interest to the city, or just complete their daily commute. When they get home, they connect the sensors to Wi-Fi and upload their data.

“Then we crunch the numbers and give them a report,” Mr. Haynes said.

Such reports allow cities to make informed decisions about where to fix potholes, build bike lanes and make other improvements. Velo did its first report for Roanoke, Va., about a year ago. It has since partnered with Pittsburgh, through a PGH Lab grant and Ann Arbor, Mich., through a downtown development initiative.

Mr. Haynes said the Ann Arbor example was “really exciting” because officials heard about Velo on their own and reached out, wanting to learn more about their bicycling culture.

“When you’re talking about community outreach, it’s really critical to share these numbers and to be able to inform the public, you know, why are we making these decisions?” Mr. Haynes said.

He is hoping the data allows urban planning to be a bit more proactive.

“All too often bike infrastructure is very reactionary to death for serious injuries,” Mr. Haynes said. Many of Pittsburgh’s bike lanes, including a Forbes Avenue artery, were the direct result of a fatality. But there are 100 near misses for every major crash, Mr. Haynes said.

“So there’s 100 times more data that we could be using… that’s really what we’re going after.”

Velo has benefitted from federal funding before. It was part of the inaugural Robotics Factory cohort last year, a co-working space and mentorship program created through the region’s $63 million Build Back Better grant for robotics.

For the new funding, Velo will partner with the Mobility Analytics Center at Carnegie Mellon University, where Mr. Haynes earned his Ph.D. It also plans to partner with the local public bike share program POGOH.

A significant coalition is supporting the project, including the city’s department of mobility and infrastructure, BikePGH, The Allegheny Conference, The Heinz Endowments, Innovation Works, The League of American Bicyclists, Mobilify, and The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

As the data portion progresses, early adopters are still using Copilot independently, Mr. Haynes said. The company sold out of its first launch and now has about 100 units deployed across the country.

“And we’ve been completely redesigning the product and getting a version two that we’re going to launch in 2025,” he said. “It’s half the size and half the weight… smaller than a deck of cards, and we packed in a ton of intelligence.”

Compared to the incredibly costly development of autonomous vehicles, Mr. Haynes said he is grateful to have tackled a more niche challenge.

Velo is a fraction of the size of Aurora, which raised another $483 million this month to support driverless trucking operations, but is “tackling a problem that has just as many road deaths as crashes involving tractor trailers,” Mr. Haynes said. “Actually, I think there are more.”

View the full article at post-gazette.com.

With SmartMoves Connections, SPC presents a new approach to regional transit planning—one based on locating the Transit Supportive Land Uses already present in our region. Using a Machine Learning analysis of aerial photography and travel data, SmartMoves Connections maps the clusters of land with multimodal potential. These are put into six categories where Multimodal Hubs and Multimodal Corridors could be good mobility options.

A Multimodal Hub is a facility where mobility services can connect together—such as Park-and-Ride, bike lockers, scooter-share or paratransit—along with public transit service. These Hubs allow seamless connections between the parts of a person’s trip and enable new kinds of trips, even across county borders or on multiple transit services.

Multimodal Corridors improve the speed and reliability of transit service with improvements like Transit Signal Priority, exclusive bus lanes, queue jump turn lanes, protected bike lanes and improved stations. With the SmartMoves Connections Cluster Map, you can see what multimodal improvements would work best for the place you are interested in. To learn more, download the report or view the story map .

For questions about SmartMoves Connections, contact David Totten at dtotten@spcregion.org.

Multimodal transportation networks provide safe, sustainable travel for all users and differing levels of mobility. Comprehensive multimodal planning is accomplished through several of our programs.

Active Transportation | Freight | SmartMoves Connections | TDM | TOC

Active Transportation

Walking and biking have positive benefits on
the environment, economic development, health, safety and overall quality of
life for residents within the region.

Active Transportation Plan Update Story Map and Companion Documents

• Companion Documents

  • Executive Summary
  • ATP Update Summary
  • Community Engagement Summary
  • Goals, Objectives, and Performance Measures (.xls)
  • Multimodal Plans and Policies Inventory
  • Network Analysis Methodology Memo
  • Active Transportation Design Toolkit

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Additional Resources

• Active Transportation Resource Center
• 2019 Regional Active Transportation Plan
• Active Transportation Forum Recordings

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Freight

Recognizing the role of freight in local
economic development, we assist in attracting emerging industries, building
enhanced connections to the global marketplace, and protecting mobility options
to our commercial and industrial partners.

SPC uses information gained from its Freight
Forum in the design and implementation of freight-specific roadway
improvements, and in the evaluation of applications for state and federal grant
funding.

Resources

• Southwestern PA Regional Freight Plan

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SmartMoves Connections: A Regional Vision for Public Transit

With SmartMoves Connections, SPC presents a new approach to regional transit planning—one based on locating the Transit Supportive Land Uses already present in our region. Using a Machine Learning analysis of aerial photography and travel data, SmartMoves Connections maps the clusters of land with multimodal potential. These are put into six categories where Multimodal Hubs and Multimodal Corridors could be good mobility options.

A Multimodal Hub is a facility where mobility services can connect together—such as Park-and-Ride, bike lockers, scooter-share or paratransit—along with public transit service. These Hubs allow seamless connections between the parts of a person’s trip and enable new kinds of trips, even across county borders or on multiple transit services.

Multimodal Corridors improve the speed and reliability of transit service with improvements like Transit Signal Priority, exclusive bus lanes, queue jump turn lanes, protected bike lanes and improved stations. With the SmartMoves Connections Cluster Map, you can see what multimodal improvements would work best for the place you are interested in. To learn more, download the report or view the story map .

For questions about SmartMoves Connections, contact Devon White  at dwhite@spcregion.org.

Resources

• SmartMoves Connections Final Report
• Cluster Map
• Story Map
• Simulation Videos

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Transportation Demand Management

Transportation demand management focuses on the decisions that people and businesses make every day about how they travel. Managing travel demand involves providing travelers with information, options, and incentives that expand travel choices beyond driving alone, such as use of transit, ridesharing, bicycling, walking, and teleworking. For those who drive, it also involves shifting travel to less congested times or routes, or avoiding trips entirely in order to reduce traffic congestion, improve system efficiency, and enhance quality of life.

TDM Action Plan

This plan will establish and prioritize goals and strategies that build upon existing efforts and programs to improve mobility options by:

• Maximizing the efficiency of the region’s existing infrastructure.
• Better integrating TDM initiatives with regional and local transportation planning.
• Developing focused TDM planning strategies into operations and safety, sustainability as well as economic and community vitality.
• Enhancing the region’s existing communities by supporting connections to transit, walking and bicycling.
• Coordinating TDM activities among all of the region’s TDM implementers and stakeholders in order to maximize investment and to deliver consistent, complimentary strategies.

This plan will also support and implement the vision, policies and goals in the region’s Long-Range Transportation Plan, SmartMoves for a Changing Region

Resources

• Transportation Demand Management Strategic Action Plan Documents

  • Kick-Off Meeting Download
  • Existing Conditions Memorandum
  • Best Practices Summary Report
  • Visioning Workshop Slides
  • TDM Vision Statements and Goals
  • Stakeholder Survey Summary
  • Priority Setting Workshop Slides
  • Assessment of Performance Criteria
  • Strategic Priorities and TDM Activities Interim Report
  • Draft regional TDM Action Plan
  • Transportation Demand Management Strategic Action Plan

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Transit Operators Committee (TOC)

The Transit Operators Committee provides technical assistance to our by serving as the forum for advancing programs and projects providing public transportation options, regional transit coordination, alternatives to fixed-route transit service, and economic opportunities linked to land use and transit-oriented development. Committee membership consists of representation from the region’s sponsors of public transportation; the regional vanpool sponsor, CommuteInfo; and, the three Allegheny County Transportation Management Associations:

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PennDOT Bureau of Public Transportation Annual Performance Report

For a quick reference of regional transit statistics, please visit penndot.pa.gov and view the PennDOT Bureau of Public Transportation Annual Performance Report.

TOC Resources

• Transit Planning Projects

  • Butler County

    • Transit Development Plan
    • Business Strategies

  • Washington County

    • Transit Development Plan
    • Business Strategies
    • Transportation Authority Service Guidelines

  • Westmoreland County

    • Transit Development Plan
    • Business Strategies

• Meeting Minutes

  • 2022

    • February Minutes
    • July Minutes
    • August Minutes
    • September Minutes
    • November Minutes

  • 2023

    • January Minutes
    • February Minutes
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  • 2024

    • January Minutes
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  • 2025

    • January Agenda
    • January Minutes
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    • March Minutes
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    • April Minutes
    • May Agenda
    • May Minutes
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    • June Minutes
    • July Agenda (Joint TOC-TTC)
    • July Minutes (Joint TOC-TTC)
    • August Agenda
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    • December Minutes

  • 2026

    • January Agenda
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  • Archived Meeting Minutes