Pittsburgh

While the continuation of Pittsburgh's pilot program with battery-powered scooters has been frozen by a state budget impasse, it may restart soon with fines for the program operator for letting scooters lay around.

The city has signed a 10-year, $39 million contract with Axon Enterprises for the latest models of body cameras, in-vehicle cameras and Tasers as they become available.

Pittsburgh Public Schools this week rolled out protocols for schools without air conditioning to deal with extreme heat. A day later, 40 facilities shifted to remote learning as local temperatures soared into the 90s.

A push to extend Pittsburgh's e-scooter program — and to allow similar programs in other cities — advanced in the state Legislature on Wednesday but faces opposition from the governor’s office.

The Move PGH pilot project in Pittsburgh has provided some 1 million scooter trips, with about a third of those replacing a trip by car. The pilot uses "equity zones" to make these trips more accessible to all residents.

A laptop-building seminar for younger Florida students is a highlight of Remake Learning Days, an initiative to bring computer literacy and other learning opportunities in STEM subjects to low-income communities.

Pittsburgh is slated to receive more than $1.5 million in state grant money for new electric vehicles, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and compressed natural gas trucks.

Pennsylvania counties have been mounting challenges to the accuracy of the FCC’s maps so that they get a fair share of $42.45 billion in federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment money.

Several of Pittsburgh's city departments will partner with startup companies in an effort to improve how city government functions and support the participating companies, Mayor Ed Gainey said Tuesday.

In a City Council vote Tuesday, officials approved the nearly $500,000 expansion of the GPS tracking technology for garbage and recycling trucks. The system is similar to the one currently used to track the city’s snow plows and salt trucks.

Plus, Chicago has posted a new RFI related to expanding broadband access throughout the entire city, Pittsburgh has announced a new digital equity coalition, North Carolina has a digital equity grant program and more.

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said this week that they want to close the region's digital divide within the next five years, calling special attention to racial disparities in service.

Allegheny County and city of Pittsburgh officials have announced plans for a joint program that will work toward closing the region's digital divide by 2027, though full details aren't expected until late spring.

A new tool from the Pittsburgh Office of Management and Budget aims to make data on budget decisions more transparent, as one of many efforts the city has undertaken to make data more accessible to the public.