Liam Davis
Candidate for: City Council, 1st District
voteliamdavis.com
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Describe your vision of a healthy, safe, and equitable transportation system for Baltimore city and what roles walking, biking, and public transportation play in that vision.
As Baltimore City continues to turn the corner economically, I see an increasingly walkable and dynamic transportation system emerging from the City's core, spreading outward to all our neighborhoods eventually transforming the entire City's public right-of-way. We'll continue to utilize the City's Complete Streets Ordinance and Adopted Complete Streets Manual to help our planners and engineers carry out the transition. The transformation is already underway, albeit in its infancy stage, with the primary use of quick-build (flexposts & paint) being the primary driver of our public corridors being reimagined.
As the transformation progresses, I see a more permanent approach, where quick-build is replaced with a more durable, permanent treatment. We'll have a robust network of shared use paths available for all road users, delineated by concrete curbs to promote safety and built to last. Impervious surface, particularly asphalt and concrete located on roads that were designed over capacity for single-occupancy vehicles will be replaced with green space filled with native vegetation or expanded sidewalks. Our streets lights will all be retrofitted with energy efficient LED lights emitting warm colors that are welcoming and not visually cold. Our subsurface conduit network will be leveraged to provide free, reliable and fast broadband accessible to the public. Where feasible, surplus travel lanes will be set aside for transit use, particularly dedicated bus lanes and future rail lines. I will make it a priority for the City to begin to seriously and thoroughly chip away at our more than decade long sidewalk repair backlog - a 10 year backlog for sidewalks is unacceptable.
All of this work will be completed with public input, where local residents are provided options of how to best implement Complete Streets within their community, with the Department of Transportation having a degree of discretion to ensure the entire network is cohesive and works together.To meet Baltimore City’s adopted climate goals, we must shift at least 10% of current automobile vehicle miles traveled to active transportation and public transit. What is your plan to achieve this goal?
First and foremost we will ensure the State of Maryland adequately funds transit service for the Baltimore Metropolitan Area. If doing so requires legal action then so be it. Adequately funded encompasses funds necessary to maintain existing levels of service as well as dollars to support service enhancements. Locally we will make sure all municipal agencies, not just Baltimore City Department of Transportation, are in compliance with both the Complete Streets Ordinance and accompanying Complete Streets Manual - this includes any Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) project embarked on by a municipal agency.
Baltimore City should make available to all City employees free passes to utilize public transportation to commute to and from work. If the City of Baltimore feels it is necessary that the municipal workforce report back to the office post pandemic, then the least they can do is make sure this is done with a minimized carbon footprint. As the City's economic footing continues to improve and stabilize, we should explore the feasibility of working with the State of Maryland to remove public transit fares in their entirety. The cost of doing so is far less than the cost of the various impacts of climate change.
We must also work in partnership with our neighborhood stakeholders and the development community to reform our Zoning Code in a manner that promotes density, transit use, and walkability. Mandatory minimum parking requirements should be reduced significantly, and within proximity to transit stations removed in their entirety. Baltimore City should partner with Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) to establish State Transit Oriented Development (TOD) designation at every single fixed station located with Baltimore City limits. The fact that this already isn't a reality is unacceptable and indicative of a complete lack of focus and commitment towards tackling climate change.
City leadership must also show just exactly that - leadership - when critical transformational projects such as the Greenways Trail are met with community opposition. All communities should be heard however no one community should serve as a roadblock to progress.
What is your plan to continue to reduce the number of injuries and deaths on Baltimore City roadways each year?
I pledge to work collaboratively with our traffic engineers and transportation planners to help them successfully reform Baltimore's transportation network in unison with the adopted Complete Streets Ordinance and accompanying Complete Streets Manual. Yes, its true that Baltimore City has made progress in recent years and I'm proud to have worked alongside many dedicated public servants during my tenure at City DOT, however the realty remains that much work remains. The people of Baltimore can count on me to remain a consistent and steadfast advocate who will support legislation, policy and capital projects designed to improve safety and reduce risk of injury and death. This includes supporting projects that promote safety of all road users, a commitment to consistently seek scarce funds necessary to finance transformational projects, working with stakeholders and City DOT to identify ideal locations for automated enforcement, serving as an educational resource for members of the public on the merits of Complete Streets and committing to protecting the Complete Streets Ordinance from being weakened or repealed.
How often do you walk, bike or use public transit to reach daily destinations? If not often (or at all), what would make you more likely to use non-personal vehicle modes of transportation?
Answering this honestly, I primarily walk to destinations within a 15 minute walking radius of my home in Greektown. This generally includes destinations within the communities of Greektown, Highlandtown, Brewers Hill and Hopkins Bayview Campus. More reliable, frequent transit service, in steady 15 minute waves, would provide me sufficient confidence for me to utilize public transit more frequently. In terms of bike usage, in recent years I have used my bike regularly during warmer months - primarily for exercise, leisure and errands not requiring a great deal of storage. Better bike infrastructure would certainly help - navigating the transition from Eastern Avenue underpass westbound across Haven Street can be precarious. Once I get past that intersection and cross south of Eastern Avenue, I love heading straight to Potomac Street bike facility, where I can take a clean southbound shot toward Canton Waterfront Park where I can ride along the Waterfront Promenade. Truthfully though I think what I really need is an upgraded, more durable bike which is on the top of my post-election to-do list.
In 2017, Baltimore City adopted the Separated Bike Lane Network Plan Addendum to the Bike Master Plan. This called for connecting 85% of Baltimore’s neighborhoods to safe, all-ages bike infrastructure by 2022. Less than 20% of this network has been built. What would you do to accelerate implementation?
Without question, we need to significantly expand City DOT's capital budget. During my tenure at City DOT, we've had a degree of success here, with FY25 shaping up to be our largest capital budget in over a decade. That being said, Maryland's Transportation Trust Fund (TTP) is facing a significant shortfall and our recent Highway User Revenue gains appear to be short-lived. This means we'll have to get more creative with generating additional capital dollars locally, while also prioritizing a greater percentage of the agency's capital budget towards the planning, design and construction of the Separated Bike Lane Network Addendum.
Pockets of community opposition have also proven to be challenging, which highlights the need for City DOT to embrace new community engagement strategies and tools. One option currently being utilized for the West Baltimore United effort to overhaul the Highway to Nowhere is to utilize contractual or consultant resources to further supplement existing community outreach capacity. I believe we can also work with our community engagement teams that exist within City Hall, both the Mayor's Office and City Council Offices to help in this effort as well.
I think it also makes sense to be flexible in terms of how City DOT moves forward with building out the plan. Rather than lead head-first with projects where support is scarce, we can prioritize building out the network in areas of the City where there's already a robust degree of grassroots support. Not only will this help us build out the network more expeditiously, but it serves to provide as a training ground for new employees and help to boost employee morale. Let's focus on getting some wins under our belt and I am confident that more positive momentum will follow.
Lastly, I believe City DOT should prioritize permanent Streetscape Projects in areas where quick build bike facilities have already been completed. Maryland Avenue is an ideal example - imagine the protected bike facility with permanent buffers, concrete curbs filled with either Belgian blocks or native vegetation. Once completed the permanent streetscaped areas can serve as models to further promote the bike infrastructure to communities with bike facilities projects in the pipeline. A great deal of opposition to Complete Streets during my tenure at City DOT has simply been opposition to the aesthetics associated with temporary flex posts that wear and weather in short time.
In 2018, Baltimore City received national recognition for passing the first equity driven Complete Streets ordinance in the country. This legislation contains a modal hierarchy prioritizing vulnerable road users and mandates best practices in roadway configuration and design. Are you committed to retaining this ordinance and the current practices and modal hierarchy it mandates?
I'll keep this answer short and sweet. Yes. Count me as a steadfast ally of the City's existing Complete Streets Ordinance.
What is your position on The Red Line alternatives? If a surface route is selected, are you committed to ensuring the route has 100% dedicated right-of-way, even if it may require significant parking removal? Are you committed to the in-development multi-use trail segment along Boston Street and a parallel separated bike facility in a northern alignment, even if they may require significant parking removal as well?
Great question - I am a Red Line supporter just as I was a decade ago. My preference is that the project follow a similar Boston Street alignment that was proposed previously due to the available right-of-way and increasing desire from local stakeholders for traffic calming to be implemented along Boston Street. My preference would be for the project to include the tunnels under both Cooks Lane and Downtown that were proposed previously, eventually rising to surface level next to the Can Company Building along Boston Street. I fear alternative proposals currently being considered where dual lines would run on Eastern Avenue and Fleet Street would run into significant community opposition - likely more than what was experienced a decade prior. I am extremely disappointed that the State of Maryland is now hinting that they may not have enough funding available to build a Red Line with tunnels or a light rail altogether due to shortage of funds. My answer to that is it's certainly not Baltimore City’s fault that the Transportation Trust Fund is experiencing a shortfall. Figure it out - that's what we elected our state leaders to do. The Baltimore Red Line has been delayed at minimum by 10 years due to a lack of leadership and accountability from the State of Maryland. Coming back and saying we'll offer Baltimore City something less than what was previously proposed is unacceptable. I've said this before and I'll say it again, the City of Baltimore should seriously consider seeking legal action against the State of Maryland to ensure compliance of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Agree or disagree?Do you support maintaining the city’s micro-mobility program that provides dockless bikes and scooters?
Yes
Would you support creation of a government subsidized bike share system?
Yes
Would you support local legislation to subsidize the purchase of e-bikes and membership for micro-mobility or bike share systems?
Yes
Are you committed to retaining every piece of separated bike infrastructure in the city that’s been built?
Yes
Cars are often longer than a single rowhome is wide. Households with multiple vehicles compete for parking in front of other neighbors’ homes. Do you support scaling residential permit parking fees to either the size of or number of vehicles in a household so those with more vehicles parked on city streets pay their fair share?
Yes
Do you support a citywide speed limit of 25mph on arterials and 20mph on neighborhood streets?
Yes
Do you support banning turns on red at all intersections that permit pedestrian crossing?
Yes
Do you support expanding automated enforcement to all roads that have high rates of crashes and speeding, not just near school zones?
Yes
Do you support legislation to create income-based traffic enforcement fine reductions or waivers locally?
Yes
Do you support allowing increased density adjacent to high-quality transit, grocery stores, Main Street districts, and in other high-amenity neighborhoods?
Yes
Do you support increasing Transit Oriented Development zoning to include all areas within a quarter mile of high-frequency bus routes and a half-mile of light rail and metro stations?
Yes
Minimum parking requirements are shown to increase housing costs while limiting potential density and making neighborhoods less walkable. Do you support removing parking minimums from new development?
Yes
Do you support removing single family residential zoning categories, so that people can choose to build and live in a variety of housing options citywide?
Yes