Q & A: Stephen Patchan

Committed to making Pittsburgh bike friendly, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl recently appointed a bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, Stephen Patchan, to oversee safety issues within city limits. Patchan, a native of Connellsville, just moved from the South Side to Friendship, and has a master's degree in Comprehensive Planning from California University of Pennsylvania. He is 6'5, rides a Trek 7.3 FX, and has been on the job since August 11.

Matt Stroud, who biked from Boston to San Francisco this past summer, sat down with Patchan to get acquainted. One result of their conversation? The first bike symposium featuring Patchan, on October 23rd. Hold the date and look for more details soon in Pop City.

How did you get where you are?

From the time I was old enough to ride a bicycle -- and I went through a BMX phase, a freestyle phase, and I'm currently in a pretty boring, conservative phase -- bicycling was always in my blood. It soon became something I wasn't necessarily doing for fun -- it became a lifestyle: commuting, getting exercise, basically realizing that bicycling is part of the urban fabric in cities. So, I kept my eyes and ears open. I've been interested in the issues cyclists face for a long time. So when I heard Pittsburgh was looking for a bicycle coordinator, I jumped at it.

You've been on the job under two months. What's the agenda?

One of our first priorities is creating new bicycle lanes -- expanding pavement markings, particularly in Beechwood and at Forbes and Fifth -- before the weather gets colder. There are also projects that were initiated before I started -- ordinances pertaining to bike racks and bike parking. There's a bicycle trail detour ordinance based on the casino shutting down the trail on the Allegheny and Ohio. And much more. As far as a hierarchy of priority, I'd say educational programs are probably most important right now. We're educating [the public and the police department] about bike laws -- key points about what people can and can't do.

There's been some heated conversation about that…

Bicyclists say motorists don't follow the laws. Motorists say bicyclists don't follow the laws. Motorists and cyclists say pedestrians don't follow the laws. And they're all correct: A lot of people don't follow the laws. But a lot of people do. It's my responsibility to develop programs where each one of these users has the education to make the best judgements on the road.

And in some cities, cyclists breaking laws are supported by legislation. Because some laws are perceived as being unsafe. In San Francisco, an ordinance is being considered that would allow cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs, and stoplights as stop signs.

And it was actually passed as a state law in Idaho.

Is that an effective solution?

I can't say it's the best answer. We'll see how it plays out in Idaho. Obviously, Idaho is very different from downtown Pittsburgh, so there are different factors involved. There are proponents of that rule here. We'll have to look at it more. Run some tests. See how the public would handle it.

Are police officers encouraged to ticket cyclists?

I don't believe the police department feels a major enforcement crackdown on cyclists and pedestrians would be beneficial. They agree that education is the way to go. With kids returning to universities now, there's an increase of cyclists on streets, and, probably more dangerously, on sidewalks -- wearing ear buds and talking on iPhones. They're probably not the most up to date on state cycling laws. They probably don't know what their responsibilities are. And that's something we need to address. The guys on the fixies in the East End -- they can ride their bikes pretty well. They may be breaking laws, but they know what they're doing. The college students who are riding on sidewalks with pedestrians -- they probably can't ride their bikes as well.

You mentioned putting new lanes at Fifth and Forbes, and on Beechview Boulevard. How do you choose which streets need bike lanes?

That's part of the strategic plan I'm implementing. We'll do an analysis of existing streetscapes. Right now, it's publicly driven.

You're asking cyclists?

Yes. They're using the roads, and the lanes are for them, so they're more familiar with which ones can use retrofitting. With that information, we see if we can implement "street dieting" on certain well-traveled roads.

What's "street dieting"?

You take a four lane road and do a traffic assessment. If it seems like you can do without all those lanes, you shrink it down to two lanes or three lanes, which provides extra room to add a bike lane. We're asking cyclists to think about this. You have guys out on a bicycle every day, riding the same route they're been riding for twenty years, and hopefully now they're thinking, wow, we could make this road a lot safer. So, at this point, the cycling community is probably the largest information base we have.

How about public transport? How much of your job will be aimed at outfitting all busses with bicycle racks, and getting busses to more places inside and outside the city?

There's been a lot of discussion about this. The Port Authority has been very open to ideas. They plan to have bicycle [racks] on one hundred percent of their fleet. And the importance of that can't be understated. With gaps in the fleet, people need to plan around [buses without bike racks], and that maybe discourages them from using public transportation. This hurts cyclists, and also the Port Authority. I don't have any say on where the buses go. I don't have any pull outside the city.

Where are you looking for outside advice on improving the cycling and walking infrastructure?

I just spoke with a councilwoman from Madison, WI, which has extensive paths for cyclists. There's also Seattle's Pro Walk/Pro Bike conference [attended by Scott Bricker, of Bike Pittsburgh]. And cities like Davis, CA -- considered the most bikeable city in the country. Portland, too. Check out Mayor Ravenstahl's initiatives. They're based on the Bicycle Friendly Communities awards -- a system set up to establish what bicycle friendly cities look like. And it's not like you sneeze and get these awards. Our ultimate goal is to get Pittsburgh recognized positively. In 1990, we were recognized as the worst bicycle city in the country. It would be great if we could reverse that -- to go from the worst, to one of the best.

What are barriers to achieving Bicycle Friendly Status?

Well, because of our street widths, bike lanes aren't always possible. We can't have lanes on every street. How can we contend with that? There's pavement markings, signage, programs we can implement. Having a very aggressive comprehensive educational and marketing program is basically where we start -- getting into schools, running TV ads, major events, participating in bicycling events, participating in motoring events. Yes, people are so used to looking at signs and advertising, and they're all over the place, and I think people get tired of looking at signage. But at this point, it's our best line of defense. Our hope is that, with enough advertising and marketing and education, people will start to pay attention. And we can get the message out that bicycles are going to be on streets. They're not going away. So equip yourself with enough information to be safe.

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Matt Stroud is a freelance writer who spent the summer biking cross-country and is now living in Bloomfield.

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Photographs copyright Brian Cohen