Seventeen Pittsburghers — including one city council member — have chosen to put the brakes on their personal car use for a month and rely on a car-sharing service, public transit or their own two legs to get around the city.

The group of men and women, most of whom looked to be in their 20s and 30s, relinquished their car keys yesterday as part of Zipcar’s 30-day Low-Car Diet challenge. They’ll get their keys back Aug. 15.

Among the participants is City Councilman Bill Peduto. About half of the 1,000 miles a month he puts on his MINI Cooper are work related, he said. He’s rearranged his work schedule and is coordinating personal trips with Zipcar availability, he said.

“My goals are to feel that I can effectively do my job without being completely dependent on my personal automobile, to get into better shape by walking and biking and basically really attacking that lifestyle habit, which is my dependency on my automobile, and proving to myself that I can beat it,” Peduto said.
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