Rethinking Transportation in Pittsburgh Prepared for the City of Pittsburgh, PA in collaboration with the National Association of City Transportation Officials Spring 2016 Sam Salkin – HKS MPP 2016 – Social & Urban Policy PAC Advisor: Josh Goodman PAE Advisor: David King This PAE reflects the views of the author(s) and should not be viewed as representing the views of the PAE's external client(s), nor those of Harvard University or any of its faculty - 2 - Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................................. - 3 - Acknowledgements and Thanks ........................................................................................... - 4 - Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. - 6 - I: On the Complexity of Managing Transportation in Cities .............................................. - 7 - II: Project Scope of “Rethinking Transportation in Pittsburgh” ...................................... - 10 - III: Understanding Pittsburgh’s Transportation Landscape ............................................ - 11 - Understanding Pittsburgh’s City Government ....................................................... - 11 - The Pittsburgh Transportation Landscape ............................................................. - 12 - About Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning ................................................... - 13 - Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Works ............................................................... - 15 - The Relationship Between DCP and DPW .............................................................. - 16 - Findings from Pittsburgh Meetings ......................................................................... - 16 - IV: Learning from Other Cities .......................................................................................... - 21 - Assessing Departmental Landscapes ...................................................................... - 22 - Inventory of Departmental Functions & Roles ....................................................... - 25 - Success Factors in Cities .......................................................................................... - 26 - The Key Principles for Structuring Transportation Agencies ................................ - 35 - Future Opportunities for Research/Inquiry ............................................................ - 35 - V: What Can We Learn from Academic and Popular Literature? ................................... - 36 - VI: A Way Forward for Pittsburgh ..................................................................................... - 39 - Assessing Pittsburgh’s Options ................................................................................ - 39 - Recommended Approach .......................................................................................... - 43 - Implementing the Change ........................................................................................ - 45 - Appendix A: Pittsburgh’s Transportation Stakeholders ................................................... - 48 - Appendix B: Complete City Comparison Chart ................................................................ - 51 - Credit for icons on cover: The Noun Project (Jon Trilliana, Arthur Shlain, Ilsur Aptukov, and Joel Avery) - 3 - Acknowledgements and Thanks This PAE would not have been possible without input and support from a diverse group ranging from urban transportation experts to the HKS community. I am indebted to Corinne Kisner at the National Association of City Transportation Officials for being a great thought partner, a repository of institutional knowledge, and sponsor for this project. I am particularly grateful to her for coordinating (and sitting in on) phone calls with at least a dozen staff from city transportation agencies. I also appreciate the insights from other NACTO staff including Matthew Roe, Craig Toocheck. Andy Wiley-Schwartz, Seth Solomonow, and Nick Mosquera from Bloomberg Associates also made significant contributions along the way. The success of this project hinged directly on the openness and helpfulness of the Pittsburgh Office of Management and Budget- especially Jen Presutti. Jen was tireless in coordinating valuable conversations with stakeholders across Pittsburgh and answering my very granular questions. The rest of the OMB team (specifically Sam Ashbaugh, David Hutchinson, and Kevin Pawlos) provided essential ideas to help shape my findings and recommendations. The insights and recommendations in this report come from interviews with urban transportation experts across the country. I am incredibly appreciative to Shelly Peart (Atlanta), Rob Spillar (Austin), Chris Osgood and Vineet Gupta (Boston), Michael Moore (Cincinnati), Sam Zimbabwe (DC), Chrissy Fanganello (Denver), Denise Goren (Philadelphia), and Barbara Gray and Scott Kubly (Seattle). I need to acknowledge Dan Tangherlini and Jamie Parks for their candor when speaking about previous experiences leading and working in a city transportation agency. I also appreciate perspectives gained during conversations with other people conducting research on related topics such as Tim Jeong and Jonathan Rewers from San Francisco MTA as well as Mark de la Vergne and Michael Flynn from Sam Schwartz Engineering. The Harvard Kennedy School community deserves endless thanks for their support and ideas. Josh Goodman and David King were phenomenal advisors who helped question - 4 - my assumptions, affirmed my approach, and corrected my course when needed. Conversations with Bob Behn, Tony Gomez-Ibañez, David Eaves, and, in particular, David Luberoff, helped frame my thinking on a number of topics. I am very grateful to all of them. My classmates have been invaluable in bouncing ideas around and helping me practice describing my project quickly. Finally, I cannot ignore how supportive my family has been- particularly my wife, Kyle Salkin. She has put up with a lot of me geeking out about organizational charts, street design, and other transportation-related minutiae since September. At the very least, I hope she has learned something from me about transportation in cities along the way… - 5 - Executive Summary Pittsburgh, PA Mayor Bill Peduto and Pittsburgh’s Office of Management of Budget requested this report to recommend how Pittsburgh should organize its government and rethink the city’s approach to transportation to be more effective, impactful, and forward- thinking. Interviews with stakeholders from across Pittsburgh (both inside and outside government) provided necessary insights. Conversations with other cities to learn how they organize themselves and manage transportation provided a useful peer review. Discussions with Pittsburgh stakeholders found: • No one person or agency has clear responsibility for transportation • There is not widespread awareness of Mayor Peduto’s vision for transportation • Communicating about and coordinating transportation is a challenge for Pittsburgh • Evaluation of transportation effectiveness is not part of the equation yet Conversations with staff at transportation agencies in other cities about what drives success found: • An agency’s name matters little. An agency’s scope and results matter a lot. • Executive vision and leadership matters • Agency structure should facilitate project delivery • Collaboration, coordination, and communication must be consistent & intentional • Cities struggle to define and measure transportation effectiveness. I recommend that Pittsburgh reorganize its city government to create an agency with clear responsibility for everything encompassing transportation from end-to-end. However, before the city reorganizes, it should create a position reporting directly to Mayor Peduto with organizational responsibility for transportation. This position will coordinate internal activities and represent the city to external stakeholders. This person will develop a transportation vision, pilot new processes, lead a departmental reorganization, and then lead the new agency responsible for transportation. - 6 - I: On the Complexity of Managing Transportation in Cities Cities would not be possible without transportation. Transportation encompasses how cities plan, build, operate, and maintain the assets, programs, and policies that move people, goods, services, and ideas around and through its borders. When cities think about transportation, it includes street design, parking, public spaces, utilities, and much more. Failure to manage transportation networks properly creates externalities threatening quality of life ranging from rampant congestion to unsafe roads. Despite the centrality of transportation in creating a vibrant city, there are wide differences in how cities organize themselves to manage mobility. In American cities, it is typical for cities to have a Department of Transportation or Department of Public Works. However, the specific roles and responsibilities of these departments vary city by city. Municipalities face critical questions of how to structure themselves to craft forward- thinking policies, effectively deliver projects, and properly operate transportation networks. Today, cities experience a resurgence. Transportation agencies have begun shifting their focus from moving cars towards moving people. This progressive approach to transportation prioritizes safety, equity, and accessibility