The next phase of PlanPGH, “MovePGH,” kicks off Thursday evening at Carnegie Mellon University.

“Move Pittsburgh is the city’s first transportation plan, and that plan will serve as the vision of the city’s transportation network for the next 25 years,” said Stephen Patchan, bicycle/pedestrian coordinator for the city of Pittsburgh.

MovePGH will evaluate transportation needs and opportunities and bring together six agencies that are responsible for maintaining the city’s transportation system. The plan will include three major components, a multi-modal transportation plan, a street design manual, and a bicycle/pedestrian plan. That last piece, said Patchan, would be very beneficial for the city.

“It is a way for us to drive economic development. It’s a way to make our streets safer. It’s a way to make our city competitive.  A lot of employers are looking for areas where a city offers choice in transportation,” he said.

The MovePGH launch is open to the public and meetings will be held throughout the year to gather public input to craft the plan. Because of the age of some of the infrastructure, city officials say this is quite a large undertaking.

“Our network was built a long time ago, and when engineers were building our streets, they had no way to forecast changing trends in transportation. We have the transportation network we have now, and we need to figure out how to fit all of these different modes onto our streets,” said Patchan.

The first MovePGH meeting will be 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM Thursday February 2 at Porter Hall, Carnegie Mellon University.