By SHANNON O. WELLS

A presentation on pedestrian and vehicular safety improvements to the Campus Utilization, Planning and Safety (CUPS) committee provided updates on traffic changes and construction around Oakland, including infrastructure, signage and apps designed to reduce and eliminate injuries and concerns on the campus’s busiest intersections and corridors. 

Pitt Police Commander Bradley Kiefer shared the presentation at CUPS’ Oct. 5 meeting, which included an overview on the ban of e-scooters being parked or stored on all University property, inside and outside. Effective Aug. 1, e-scooters found parked or stored on University property are subject to fines.

Representatives from Public Safety, Planning Design & Construction, Mobility, Athletics, Student Affairs, Residence Life, Student Conduct, and Housing met earlier this summer to discuss safety concerns surrounding e-scooters on campus and within Oakland. 

Aligning with Pennsylvania state law, the campus safety-influenced change aims to reduce pedestrian and vehicle collision risk, address fire hazards linked to the scooters’ lithium-ion batteries and keep campus walkways and building entrances clear and accessible, Kiefer noted. 

It also builds on existing guidance from Pitt Student Affairs, which has long-restricted lithium battery-powered mobility devices inside residence halls and University buildings.

The ban, Kiefer explained, built on existing, in-place guidance from state law regarding riding on roadways, lanes for travel listed in the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code, and on sidewalks. 

“We took some guidance from Student Affairs and Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) on the lithium batteries, so that just extends that indoor restriction to all outdoor property as well,” he said. 

Matthew Sterne, vice chancellor for business services, said the policy is designed to reduce pedestrian and vehicle collision risks, address fire hazards associated with lithium-ion batteries, "and help ensure clear, unobstructed access to campus walkways and building entrances.

"Currently, there is no way for e-scooters to travel to or around campus safely and legally. After consulting with other Pennsylvania universities, the representatives arrived at a similar decision: banning scooters from campus to protect the campus community," he explained. "Key messages related to e-scooters can be found at E-Scooters & E-Bikes | Panther Central."

CUPS co-chair David Salcido noted that the committee, while not directly involved in developing the policy position, has received numerous reports through the years from Pitt campus community members describing concerns about sharing sidewalks with e-scooters, “owing to their speed and the complexity they add to using crowded sidewalks. 

“The policy seems responsive to those concerns, where safety is the foremost concern,” he said. 

Moving on to traffic safety-related changes around Oakland implemented since last spring, Kiefer noted an additional lane of traffic along Fifth Avenue was closed Sept. 28 as contractors working on the PRT University Line Bus Rapid Transit Project installed five concrete islands. 

Contractors have had two lanes of the avenue closed for several months. The additional three-block closure between Bellefield and Lytton avenues leaves one lane open to general traffic. Buses will continue to travel in the red bus-only lane, Kiefer explained. 

“Access to side streets and crosswalks will be maintained, and motorists should expect delays and allow additional time for travel,” he noted. 

With the red bus lanes now marked on Forbes and Fifth avenues, ticketing for violations started Oct. 1 after Port Authority Police issued warnings on Forbes and Fifth between Bellefield and Craft avenues throughout September. Private vehicles, bicycles and delivery vehicles are strictly prohibited from entering, stopping, or parking in the bus lanes, even for brief pickups, drop-offs or deliveries, Kiefer explained. 

At safety-challenged areas on the upper campus, the University commissioned Kimley Horn engineering to conduct a pedestrian and traffic study of Terrace and DeSoto streets, which they completed in 2025. Since then, Kiefer said tangible improvements to that corridor include implementation of leading pedestrian intervals at Terrace and Darragh streets, which give pedestrians extra time to cross before vehicle traffic, along with improved LED lighting, and installing no-turn-on-red signage.

Other improvements were implemented at:

• Terrace and Lothrop streets: Flexible delineators installed create temporary curb bump-outs to increase pedestrian space and decrease crossing length. A stop sign at Terrace and Sutherland streets was eliminated and replaced at Lothrop Street to reduce driver confusion and improve visibility.
• Terrace Street midblock crosswalk: Flexible delineators were installed to reinforce parking, including updating parking signs
• along Terrace to minimize sight-distance impacts. 
• Terrace Street bend: Repainted curbs, restricted parking areas, improved no-parking signage, and installed a bicycle climbing lane on De Soto Street.

Moving on to emergency communications, Kiefer shared the emergency and non-emergency numbers for relaying concerns. 

For emergencies:

• Call 911 or Pitt Police dispatch: 412-624-2121, in “real time.”
• Install and use the PittSAFE app (read more below). 
• For non-emergencies:
• Call Pitt Police non-emergency phone number: 412-624-4040. 
• Report through Pitt Concern Connection. 
• Dial the 311 Response Center at 311 or 412-255-2621 (Pittsburgh Police non-emergency line) or visit the online portal.

Responding to a question from David Salcido on what qualifies as a non-emergency situation, when to call or when not to call, Kiefer said it's a “good question and difficult one to answer,” offering an example of a parking complaint of a vehicle “sticking too far out into the roadway … or in a loading zone. “It's really open to interpretation. 

“There's not really a wrong answer for calling the police. It'll get fielded to the right area, but I'm thinking for non-emergency, mainly some parking complaints,” he noted. “(Or) if it's something that's a real traffic hazard, because you could be a car broken down that's creating other things that then turns it into an emergency.”

Salcido said he’s never sure who to call when he encounters a non-functioning traffic light. “Do I call the non-emergency, the emergency (number)?”

Kiefer suggested calling the emergency number for malfunctioning traffic lights because “it's not an emergency until it becomes an emergency, but we might already know about it,” he said. “But the more reports that we have about it, it can help us get the Department of Public Works there or get it to the electric company, whoever it is, or a contractor. 

“It’s never a wrong answer to call 911 or an important place,” Kiefer added. “We'll get the right answer. We'll get it to the right person.”

Kiefer went on to discuss PittSafe, the University’s official safety app created in collaboration between Pitt Police and Pitt Digital. 

“The mobile blue light's really nice,” he noted. “It's a nice feature that, if you have it in your hand, our blue lights are static, whereas if you're walking around campus and you see something, or you're walking back to your car tonight, that might be a nice feature to have available. 

“If you have your settings on, your GPS can even be set up so that if you do have to activate it for emergency, police would know where you're at, effectively.” As far as contacting police, “we notice that a lot of times people don't want to call, but they like to text,” Kiefer explained. “So, it's a nice way to have a dialog back and forth with an ‘armed’ version of the 911 police dispatcher answering that.”

The app includes safety timers for a “friend walk” and a “virtual walk alone” walk home. “It's nice features. ‘I'm OK’ is a feature that if the University has a large-scale police event where family members, spouses or partners may be concerned that you're part of it, you can hit that button. 

“Instead of your family member or partner calling the police dispatch that’s already being oversaturated with calls, they'll know that you're OK,” he said. 

The Campus Resources category features several maps that are helpful for where AEDs are on campus, “bleed kits, different restrooms, those sorts of things,” he said. “Those are some of the main features from that. We’re just trying to help promote that as much as we can.”

Salcido noted that, after working a bit with the Pitt Safe app, he finds it a “really great consolidation of a lot of things that you might have to search around for, at your fingertips,” he said. “So, consider downloading it, taking a look at it. At first glance things that you might need to hunt around for are in one place, even beyond emergency usage. It’s a great resource.”

Kiefer concluded his safety presentation by acknowledging that Jeff Colello, a neighborhood resource officer with Pitt Police since 2015, received a Platinum Community Traffic Award from the American Auto Association, a step up from his previous Gold award. 

“We’re very proud of that, from Triple A, to have that community safety traffic platinum award,” Kiefer noted. 

Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.

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