Pittsburgh Aims for Equitable Mobility

Writing in Government Technology, Skip Descant describes the city of Pittsburgh’s Move PGH mobility-as-a-service pilot program, a two-year experiment that focuses on creating an integrated, affordable, and accessible multimodal transportation system.

According to Descant, “Affordable and accessible transportation has become a policy goal at all levels of government, as officials concede it is essential to ensure access to jobs, health care, education and offers a path to upward mobility that lifts people from poverty.” As such, Pittsburgh’s program offers a 30 percent discount on rides taken in geographic “equity areas,” as well as an 80 percent discount for income-qualified residents. “So far, nearly one million trips have been taken on about 1,000 scooters in Pittsburgh, with about 200,000 people signing up to use the Spin scooters. Based on survey data, more than a third of those million trips would have been taken in a car, were the scooters not available.”

As Descant explains, “Move PGH is a pilot which city officials would like to see evolve into a more permanent fixture in Pittsburgh. That will require some action at the state level to allow e-scooters. The devices are allowed to only operate in Pittsburgh, and only as part of the pilot.”