Signs of the Times

Dexign the Future project 3
Dan Tasse

Pathway to sustainable 2050: Mobility in Pittsburgh

WBCSD scenario: In this 2050 scenario, low carbon fuels become mainstream. Hydrogen, electric, and gas plug-in hybrid dominate. Airplanes and ships run on biofuels instead of traditional fossil fuels. Vehicle CO2 emissions are 30% below 2005 levels, and road fatalities are reduced to near zero.

How it would play out in Pittsburgh: People would generally live near where they work, reducing commutes, congestion, carbon, and fuel use. When people do drive, they can use shared cars or taxi services.

For these people, biking becomes popular, as well as electric bicycles and other small personal transportation options. Pittsburgh's hills make it a prime testing ground for new small-scale transit assists, like bike escalators [11]. This opens up the ability to get around on a personal device to many old, young, lower economic status, and less physically able people who previously had limited mobility.

Some people cannot live centrally, because the size of the core city is fixed by the rivers and mountains, and it would be difficult to fit 40% more people in the city. For those people, buses are frequent and reliable, and run on clean fuel. Also, the T is extended to the West, South, and North, to better connect those parts of the city and because it's easier to dig there.

Signs today in Pittsburgh

Signs that show that we're heading toward this future:

Signs that show the opposite:

Decade by decade pathways

Letter from the future

References linked throughout the page.