Group promotes day free of autos

Monday, June 27, 2005

By Moustafa Ayad, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

As the price of crude oil hovers at $60 a barrel, one Pittsburgh grass-roots organization has come up with a plan to reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil: Stop using your car.

Though the concept seems far fetched, the activist organization Car Free Pittsburgh championed that message yesterday to a small gathering at the Garfield Community Center. Getting rid of some cars, its members say, could reduce health problems, eliminate pollution and promote community interaction in Pittsburgh.

"Oil production is on the decline now, but people seem to think its infinite," said George Brittenburg, an organizer for the group.

Car Free Pittsburgh members are hoping their message will translate into action on July 27 when they will host the first Car Free Day.

Brittenburg said the use of automobiles has led to a litany of problems within urban communities. Problems such as urban decay, funding losses for public transportation and minority health issues can all be linked to an unhealthy dependency on cars.

Population loss has plagued Pittsburgh and other cities that have lost their industrial core, Brittenburg said. He said that is related to the number of roadways being built to funnel traffic away from urban centers. The increase in suburban populations means an inevitable increase in car populations, he said.

Sam Joel, a student at the University of Pittsburgh studying how urban decay and suburban refuge affect Cranberry, said since the 1970s, more than 1.6 million people in Pennsylvania have moved to suburban areas. In that time, Pittsburgh lost more than 200,000 people.

"Yet, in the Pittsburgh suburb of Cranberry Township there has been stratospheric growth of about 400 [percent] to 500 percent," Joel said.

Meanwhile, as more cars ride roadways in and out of the city, the remaining residents, including a disproportionate number of minorities, face the detrimental health effects of automobile emissions, said Anissa Tanweer of the Environmental Justice Institute.

Brittenburg, whose father was a mechanic, said his organization knows it won't be able to convince people to abandon their cars, yet its members are determined to begin weaning chronic car abusers onto buses or sidewalks.

"We're not trying to eliminate cars," he said.

"I don't think building new roads helps alleviate the problem; it just makes more problems because an increase in supply means an increase in demand."

(Moustafa Ayad can be reached at mayad@... or 412-263-1731.)