In April, Mayor Bill Peduto instituted a complete streets policy aiming to create safe places to travel for walkers, cyclists, buses and cars. Don Carter, director of the Remaking Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, said protected bike lanes and on-street parking have the added benefit of creating a buffer between car traffic and pedestrians on the sidewalks. At intersections, using signals with timed countdowns are becoming the most common improvement in cities nationwide.  “People respect that,” Carter said. “They know how much time they have, so it’s not just the blinking light.”