PITTSBURGH — While parking or even just stopping in a bike lane is prohibited in most locations in the city of Pittsburgh, if you do pull over to check your phone or drop someone off, and you’re in the bike lane for more than a couple of minutes, you could get a big surprise in the mail.
Chief Investigator Rick Earle spoke to CeMonne Hanna of Brighton Heights, whose sister got two tickets for parking in a bike lane on the North Side near PNC Park.
Earle: “Your sister got two tickets?”
Hanna: “Two tickets.”
Earle: “Right there?”
Hanna: “Yes, right there.”
Earle: “She was just sitting there to drop you off?”
Hanna: “She was just dropping me off.”
Hanna’s sister pulled over on Federal Street just before PNC Park and waited for her to run into the store to pick up her medicine.
Her sister never left the car, but a couple of weeks later, she got a $55 ticket in the mail for stopping in a bike lane. She got another one a short time later.
“It was very expensive for her just letting me out of the car, essentially,” Hanna said. “I don’t understand why it would be a ticket if someone were just to pull over to let someone out on the curb, especially someone like me, because I’m disabled.”
11 Investigates discovered the Pittsburgh Parking Authority has been using surveillance cameras for several months to monitor bike lanes on Federal Street, Liberty Avenue, Penn Avenue and in Oakland.
Parking authority Executive Director Dave Onorato said it’s a safety issue for bikers. The cameras are programmed to give drivers 90 seconds to drop someone off.
Earle: “So basically, a driver has 90 seconds to pull in there and get out?”
Onorato: “Yes, yes.”
Earle: “Without getting a ticket?”
Onorato: “Correct.”
But even some drivers who support bike lanes told Earle this may be going too far.
“I’m all for bike lanes and safety and so forth, but it comes to an extreme sometimes,” said Joe Pfeifer, of Etna, who spoke with 11 Investigates on his way to a baseball game at PNC Park. “A $55 ticket, and they’re filming you, watching you for that. That’s a little heavy.”
In some of the locations, like the one on Federal Street, 11 Investigates found small signs alerting drivers they are being recorded, along with larger No Parking and No Stopping signs.
But at other camera locations on Penn and Liberty, we didn’t see any of the photo enforcement signs.
11 Investigates also traveled the bike lane in Oakland but did not see any surveillance cameras, like the ones on Federal Street.
Earle also spoke to bicyclists about the crackdown.
Earle: “See that camera right there? It’s watching us right now.”
Bikers like Stephen Weinstein, who was riding on Penn Avenue Downtown, told Earle they welcome the increased scrutiny to keep the lanes free and safe.
Earle: “Do you ever see cars parked in the bike lanes?”
Weinstein: “Oh, yeah, all the time, and I have to bike into oncoming traffic.”
Earle: “So, it’s a safety hazard?”
Weinstein: “Yes, 100%.”
“We got the bike lanes for the bikes,” said Ben, who was biking on Penn Avenue but did not want to give his last name. “The cars need to respect the bikers. The bikers need to respect the cars.”
Still, some drivers questioned the 90-second time frame and suggested an alternative that didn’t sit well with the parking authority.
Earle: “What should people do if they want to drop somebody off and there’s a bike lane? Should they just stop in traffic?”
Onorato: “I can’t tell them to do that, or where to park, but I’ll tell them they can’t park in the bike lane for more than 90 seconds. They can drop someone off. You can get out of the car in 90 seconds.”
Earle has also learned that the parking authority plans to expand the program to monitor bus lanes as well.
Onorato said they will also begin using cameras on parking authority vehicles to ticket drivers who are parked at expired meters.
The violations will be mailed to the owner of the vehicle.
The authority has been using surveillance cameras to monitor parking lots for drivers who don’t pay. They’re also using cameras on parking authority vehicles to ticket drivers blocking street sweeping vehicles.
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