In pursuit of a $50 million technology grant, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto traveled to Austin, Texas, earlier this month and will spend the rest of this week in San Diego. “It’s an extremely important grant that the city is trying to get from the [U.S.] Department of Transportation, so if it takes going out to San Diego, the mayor is going to do it — and not on taxpayer dollars,” mayoral spokesman Tim McNulty said Tuesday. Pittsburgh is one of seven cities competing in the Smart City Challenge, which asks mid-size cities to develop innovative, technology-based ideas such as self-driving cars to address mounting transportation and transit challenges. Carnegie Mellon University paid for Mr. Peduto’s trips to Texas and California. The mayor is to return Friday.