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Pittsburgh City Council

Road scans save money on projects, but using the data costs $1,300 a month.

Written by Amy Whipple

After paying nearly $770,000 for a company to photograph and measure city streets, the city is now looking at a 3-year, $46,590 subscription to use the data.

From 2020 to 2024, CycloMedia drove over about 1,553 miles of city streets to take 360° street‑level photos and used LiDAR, which is a laser technology, to measure the roadways.

Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) Director Jeff Skalican said at the June 17 committee meeting that the resulting data is primarily curb-to-curb measurements. Having the database allows inspections and projects, such as adding road bump outs, to be completed in-house rather than subcontracting outside engineers.

However, CycloMedia still hosts the imagery, LiDAR data and historical archives. DOMI requested council’s approval to pay $46,590 to extend the contract for another three years to continue access to the information. That will bring the total cost to $814,937.

Deb Gross of Highland Park said, “When we invest these kinds of significant funds, and yet we have to keep paying in order to continue access to either a platform or the data on a platform, etc. etc., I think it’s right for us to kind of maybe pause and question, ‘Is this the way? Are there any other options? Is this how every other city is doing it?’” 

Council agreed to move ahead with the contract extension.

Connections to this story

Topics:
Infrastructure
Governments:
Pittsburgh City Council
Public meetings:
City Council · June 16, 2026
Sources:
Resolution 2026-0586 — amending Resolution 248-2020, authorizing the Mayor and the Director of the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure…

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