Mayor Brandon Scott
Candidate for: Mayor
brandonforbaltimore.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.
I won election four years ago promising generational change that would move Baltimore beyond decades of disinvestment.
Transportation is one of those key issues where leadership was needed and my administration has gotten results in addition to other areas that impact our quality of life.
I adopted the first Complete Streets Ordinance under my administration in 2021, and have maintained a commitment to equity: to build a more equitable transit system that will promote road safety and allow the city to thrive and grow, not just for drivers, but for pedestrians and commuters alike, and increase the quality of life across neighborhoods.
I’ve long believed we need to change our priorities on our roadway network to place additional emphasis on safety for pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders.
Using Complete Streets as a guide, we have introduced traffic-calming measures, made certain intersections more pedestrian-friendly, and committed to building out protected bicycle infrastructure, such as separated bike lanes.
I keep equity at the center of all I do, and equity is key for complete streets too. I understand that when a bike lane first comes to a neighborhood that has long been underserved and disinvested, it comes with skepticism of how that will impact our communities.
We need a transportation system that is safe and accessible, improves mobility for all users regardless of race, income, gender, age, disability, health, English language proficiency, and vehicular access, and reflects neighborhood values and promotes economic vitality.
My administration has also led on the basics, from filling over 134,000 potholes in just the last year, paving over 115 lane miles since spring of 2021, and seeing a reduction in pedestrian deaths despite the number going up across the State of Maryland.
I am leading the fight to prevent further cuts to Highway User Revenue (HUR) where, in the past, the state would balance the budget on the back of working Baltimoreans and our infrastructure.
I am also working to ensure everyday Baltimoreans can equitably utilize the 21st century tools at hand, for example, subsidizing Uber / Lyft rides through the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development’s “Let’s Ride to Work” program, allowing individuals to receive free rides to get to and from their jobs and save their first month of income to cover bills and future costs of travel to and from work.
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?
I have aggressively pursued more sustainable practices for our city through innovative advances in transportation, including passing legislation requiring procurement of 100% zero emissions vehicles by 2030 for Baltimore’s administrative fleet. I have set targets for the city to achieve 100% carbon neutrality by 2045, and MTA has announced their first all-electric buses down on Kirk Ave. I have directed the Department of Transportation (DOT) to review the Charm City Circulator system through an equity analysis, with more to come on this in the future. We have worked to promote transit ridership with expanded bus and bike lanes to provide quicker, stronger quality of service to active and public transit commuters, and the work has strengthened our ridership. However, the work is not over, and I am continuing to work to build Baltimore into a 21st century city with more equitable and reliable transit options.
What is your plan to continue to reduce the number of injuries and deaths on Baltimore City roadways each year?
Pedestrian deaths statewide are up, but they are down in Baltimore.
In 2020, there were 575 traffic fatalities statewide in Maryland and Baltimore City had 68 fatalities; however, in 2023, there were 608 fatalities statewide, but Baltimore City had 44 fatalities.
This shows that while there was an overall increase in fatalities statewide, Baltimore experienced a significant decline in traffic fatalities.
From 2021 – 2022, Baltimore City has seen a 18% reduction in non-motorist fatalities and serious injuries.
This shows we are doing something right, and my administration will continue to maintain a push forward for a more equitable and community-centered transit system.
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?
I had been a public transit user my entire life, especially through my childhood when I had to take two buses every single day to get to middle school, and spent four hours on a bus every day. It is this experience that directly impacted me, as a child, as to why we needed serious reform in our public transit system.
Non-personal vehicle modes of transportation need to be accessible, affordable, and reliable, for all Baltimoreans going to and from work or to their destinations.
This is why I continue to work to fund, protect, and expand diverse transportation options, including maximizing efficiency of the services we currently have. The City has been working on the Transit Development Plan which aims to improve equity and efficiency of service while staying within the existing budget and using the existing fleet. From this a new Charm City Circulator bus route - known as the Cherry Route is proposed, and DOT has been making some final tweaks to the route to better serve Cherry Hill residents. More about the TDP will be announced in the coming months.
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?
Progress is not built overnight, and my administration has seen strong milestones in expanding bike infrastructure from where we were in the past. I have maintained a commitment to pursuing increased implementation of all forms of transit, but must take community input seriously. As I continue to modernize City government, upgrade systems, and bring in more staff, I maintain commitment to continue expanding bike infrastructure, and in streamlining the community engagement process to reduce delays and prioritize the focus of the Department of Transportation.
We will continue to focus on the full implementation of Complete Streets Infrastructure, working to build out infrastructure and protect transit for all.
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?
The first Complete Streets Ordinance was adopted under my administration in 2021 after being passed in 2018.
I am clear that the modal priority, in terms of space and investment, that different transportation modes should receive, is as follows: (1) Walking / Pedestrian, (2) Cycling / Public Transit / Micromobility, (3) Taxi / Commercial Transit / Shared Vehicle, and (4) Single Occupant Automobiles.
Car ownership varies across neighborhood, income level, and is a factor that affects neighborhood equity, which is the number one goal of my administration: to build a more equitable transit system that will promote road safety and allow the city to thrive and grow, not just for drivers, but for pedestrians and commuters alike, and increase the quality of life across neighborhoods.
The overarching goal of my Administration has been to overcome the decades of disinvestment that have plagued our neighborhoods, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act provide once-in-a-generation opportunities to accomplish that work.
In December of 2018 Baltimore adopted Completed Street legislation that I co-sponsored when on the Council and in March 2021 as Mayor I signed an updated implementation manual.
In 2023, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Baltimore City a $9.9 million Safe Streets for All grant, slated for demonstration projects for the City’s implementation of Complete Streets. It is the largest grant award under the USDOT program in the nation.
As we make these investments and continue this progress in my second term we are focused on more proactive communication and collaboration with our communities so that complete streets are done with communities, not to communities.
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?
I have been a staunch supporter of the Red Line since inception and support its ability to move with 100% dedicated right of way.
The implementation of separated parallel bike facilities should be prioritized and implemented on an individual basis across neighborhoods.
What is your position on the MTA’s North/South Corridor 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 a parallel separated bike facility, even if it may require significant parking removal as well?
I strongly support increased North/South options to the MTA, but want to maintain the real solution is the removal of Baltimore’s transit system from state oversight and restructuring to a regional transit authority where our city will have greater oversight and say on our transit routes in collaboration with our county partners.
I support an end goal of 100% dedicated right-of-way to buses.
The implementation of separated parallel bike facilities should be prioritized and implemented on individual basis across neighborhoods.
The Baltimore Greenway Trails Network is an adopted city plan to create a 35 mile multi-use trail loop through Baltimore, connecting the vast majority of city neighborhoods and institutions to parks, greenspace, and existing trails. Are you supportive of this effort, and if so how will you ensure portions of the project in your district are constructed?
I have supported the Greenway Trails Network since its inception, and continue to do so. Progress does not occur overnight, but I remain committed to its advancement and the full scope of our Complete Streets vision.
Agree or disagree?Do you support maintaining the city’s micro-mobility program that provides dockless bikes and scooters?
The Dockless Vehicle Program, which provides cost effective first- and last-mile transportation options through its newly improved fleet of rental e-scooters and e-bikes, showed a 2.5% year-over-year growth in ridership from 2022 to 2023. I support equitable transit options like dockless vehicles, but also want to ensure operators are providing their fair share of maintenance and oversight. Right now, Baltimore City DOT is reviewing the program’s rules and regulations to ensure that operators are providing service in a fair and equitable way, and to make this program as safe and convenient for Baltimore City residents and visitors as possible.
Would you support creation of a government subsidized bike share system?
I believe in the expansion and promotion of bike share systems in Baltimore, and have maintained a strong record of financially supporting the expansion of transit options to allow more Baltimoreans to get around the city for work and leisure. I am open to continuing conversations on costs related to bike share systems and their effects on equitable transit and mobility citywide.
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?
Bike infrastructure is just one piece of a larger puzzle that includes stronger public transit and separated bus infrastructure, stronger pedestrian safety options and walkways, as well as traffic measures to expand road safety and protect drivers, riders, and pedestrians alike. I am committed to maintaining equitable infrastructure and working with communities every step of the way to maximize input and expand the 21st-century transit system that Baltimore deserves.
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?
I have worked to implement traffic calming, neighborhood and road safety measures that include speed bumps, bus and bike infrastructure, continuing to properly time and sync streetlights. I have also worked to increase enforcement, for example, investing $650,000 for the Parking Authority’s pilot on license-plate reader technology enforcing Residential Parking Permit violations which we anticipate will bring in an additional $2.6 million in revenue. Pedestrian deaths have decreased under my administration and I am committed to working with Bikemore and other transit partners to work on speed limit reform.
Do you support banning turns on red at all intersections that permit pedestrian crossing?
No
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?
I am open to continuing conversations on strategically removing parking minimums to promote more walkable neighborhoods, but not in a blanket removal citywide. I have worked to bring a variety of new development across the city and maintain an equitable vision in implementation.
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?
No