Describe your vision of a healthy, safe, equitable transportation system for Baltimore City and the roles walking, biking, and public transportation play in that vision.

I supported passage of Baltimore’s Complete Streets Ordinance when I was President of the City Council, and I have charged my administration through the Department of Transportation to work on its implementation by creation of a Complete Streets Manual due out this spring. Walking, biking and public transit are key components of Complete Streets – making the City’s street network safe and usable for all modes and user groups: youth, seniors, residents, businesses, commuters.

Many of Baltimore’s residents do not have access to personal vehicles. We need to give them decent options that allow them to engage in work, education, recreation and civic life. When the system of public transit and the environment for walking or biking fails residents, they are trapped in their homes, isolated from opportunities and services. This is who most benefits from Complete Streets.

The fastest and most economical way to address climate change, improve public health, and create equal access to opportunity is to design a city that reduces dependence on private automobiles. What are the biggest barriers to getting people to choose walking, biking, or public transit instead of personal vehicles, and what would you do to address these impediments?

One of the biggest barriers is funding. In order for people to choose alternative modes of transportation, i.e. to get out of their personal vehicles – at least for those that have them – it takes a fully networked system where people can predictably get where they want to go. Adding bike lanes, reversing the deteriorated condition of our streets and sidewalks – this takes time and money. Nonetheless, my administration is looking for ways to keep progress moving forward for expanding the bicycle network and rebuilding streets and sidewalks throughout the City.

Another barrier is perception and awareness. Will the system get me where I need to go? Working with State DOT and MTA, both for funding of new projects and improving operations, is a priority. It is a barrier that the City does not control the bulk of its transit. However, I applaud the improvements that have been made since BaltimoreLink was rolled out in 2017, and I encourage residents who have not tried using it to do so.

There’s also the perception of safety, which I am addressing by working with Police and other law enforcement and human services agencies to bring down crime overall and target locations where we know violent crimes are most concentrated.

Cleanliness, we know, contributes to the perception of safety and whether people want to be out in the streets walking or using public transit. I have launched my Clean it Up! campaign to transform how we deal with trash in our communities and involve everyone in improving the environment in our city.

In 2017, the Planning Commission approved the Separated Bike Lane Network plan that connects 85% of Baltimore’s neighborhoods by creating safe, protected places to ride a bike. Do you agree with the plan’s recommendations, and if so, what would you do to ensure that we fulfill the plan’s promise to build a minimum of 17 miles of bike lanes per year? Are there specific areas of the city where you would prioritize implementation?

I support the goals of the Bike Lane Network Plan. Yet, as Mayor I have to balance the concerns of residents who don’t always see the benefits, or who may perceive that something is being taken away from them in order to create an amenity for someone else.

Therefore, we are looking at each segment of the network as we move forward to ensure that the needs for overall safety and connectivity – which will lead eventually to fewer cars on the road – are balanced with residents’ needs for parking and concerns about traffic conflicts along their streets.

My Administration, through the Department of Transportation, has ramped up staffing of its bicycle program, allowing us to move more quickly through designing and implementing new segments of the separated bike lane network and to increase our interface with communities, both to hear their concerns and talk about the benefits of increasing bike safety and bike usage for the city as a whole.

Approximately 50 people are killed on city streets each year while walking, biking, or driving, with another 9,000 people injured. What is your plan to reduce the number of Baltimoreans injured and killed in traffic every year?

Soon, I will establish Baltimore as a Vision Zero City, joining city’s large and small from Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, to Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sand Diego. These cities are committed to eliminating traffic deaths and severe injuries by making streets and neighborhoods safer, healthier and more equitable for all.

The Complete Streets Manual will support these same goals by promoting safer streets, slower speeds, and increased walkability. The manual will be one of our tools in getting traffic fatalities and injuries down to zero.

Approximately 800 Baltimoreans die early every year from preventable diseases related to carbon emissions, more than double the city’s murder rate. Thousands more are hospitalized each year as these emissions trigger asthma and other respiratory diseases. There is a strong correlation between hospitalization and proximity to major car commuter routes. What is your plan to reduce carbon emissions from automobiles in order to decrease the number of Baltimoreans hurt by and dying from emissions-related diseases?

I think this is something we need to look into. We can encourage people to use alternate modes of transportation within the City, but there will still be commuters through Baltimore. A Complete Streets approach can slow traffic speeds while increasing flow and decreasing idling, which reduces carbon emissions.

My administration through the Department of Health is working to raise asthma awareness, treatment and prevention, so that people will better understand the signs of their disease and take preventive measures to avoid an attack.

Trees help, and through our Forestry Division under the Department of Recreation and Parks, we maintain the City’s trees and partner with communities to plant over 8,000 trees per year. The Complete Streets framework will look at opportunities for greening more of our roadway corridors.

I am working to make Baltimore safer and cleaner, and neighborhoods more livable, which will bring more residents to live AND work here. That reduces automobile miles traveled, while we work to get more cars off the road by improving services and the environment for alternative travel modes.

Do you walk for transportation? If so, for what purposes, how often, and what was your last trip walking?
I walk around Baltimore several times a week during my trips to visit neighborhoods and oversee the work of agencies all over the City. That is the best part of my job – getting out into communities, meeting people and seeing how they live. When you walk you meet people. You talk to them and see the challenges they’re experiencing with life in the city, plus how they’re working together to make neighborhoods better.

Do you use public transportation? If so, for what purposes, how often, and what was your last trip by public transportation?

My work schedule as Mayor doesn’t generally afford me the chance to use public transportation. However, when I travel for conferences, I take Amtrak or MARC trains if I can, and I like to experience public transit when I visit other cities.

Do you ever ride a bicycle? Is it for transportation, recreation, or both? What was your last trip by bicycle?

Just like many of the youth in our city today, I rode a bike to get around the city, and I worked delivering groceries to seniors by bike. I have not been on a bicycle in quite a while, although my agency staffs from Recreation and Parks and the Health Department are often trying to get me out there.

Baltimore’s urban areas have limited space on streets. In order to increase safety and improve mobility, some modes of transportation must be prioritized over others to make the most of this limited space. Please rank how you would prioritize different modes of transportation on city streets, using numbers 1 through 7:

1. Walking & devices that aid people with a disability
2. Public Transportation
3. Bicycles & Scooters
4. Freight and Delivery
5. Personal Automobiles
6. Parking
7. Ride Hailing Services (Taxi, Uber, Lyft)

Agree or disagree?

I support removing parking on a street if it would improve safety and increase mobility of people using that street.

Agree
Each situation is unique, and we need to look at each one in detail to understand who are the user groups for the street, what’s the demand for parking, and what alternatives there are for people to reach the homes and businesses along it. We can’t take away someone’s parking near their home or business altogether, whether it’s for their own vehicle or for visitors or services that need to reach them.

Minimum parking requirements are shown to increase housing costs while limiting potential density and making neighborhoods less walkable. I support following the lead of other cities that have removed minimum parking requirements from new development.

Agree
We are looking at this through our updated zoning code TransForm Baltimore. There are recent developments where parking standards have been reduced or flexed with successful results. We need to look at the unique conditions of these situations.

Some cities require employers that subsidize parking also offer an option for employees to receive that subsidy as a cash payment. I support a mandate that employers offer parking cashout so that employees can choose to pocket that money, use it for alternative transportation, or continue using that cash to pay for parking.

Agree
I support employers making that benefit flexible. I can imagine that transferring the value of renting a monthly parking spot to cash that an employee can use on transit or save by walking, biking or carpooling could reduce the number of drivers on the road. This is something to explore.

Increasing density in areas of opportunity is proven to help individuals escape poverty. I support taller, denser, or larger buildings in areas they are now prohibited by zoning.

Agree
The City’s new zoning code TransForm Baltimore sought to allow for greater density in areas where the infrastructure supports it, like around transit nodes. As a principle, I support greater density and growing the population of Baltimore City. However, this requires a careful look at where we encourage density so that growth is sustainable and compatible with surrounding neighborhoods.

Transit oriented development can expand access to areas of opportunity by locating housing and retail along high frequency transit. Current zoning code only identifies these zones along subway and light rail routes. I support expanded Transit Oriented Development zoning to include areas within a quarter mile of high-frequency bus routes.

Agree
This is something worth studying. TransForm Baltimore was a big step forward and a lengthy process in updating the zoning code for Baltimore City. Encouraging the development of more residences and businesses around high-frequency bus routes makes sense from one perspective; however, it brings risks because bus routes and levels of service can change.

It is now widely accepted that Single Family Residential Zoning was historically created to maintain racial segregation. I support removing Single Family Residential Zoning categories, allowing both single family and multi family residences to be built in all residential zoning areas.

Disagree
I think that that the single-family home is still undeniably part of the American Dream, and that is something I want people to be able to achieve here in Baltimore. I think we can balance providing space for allowing Baltimore families to reach that dream while still living in the city with careful planning for greater density in corridors that support it.

It also depends on what kind of density you’re seeking. Many cities are experimenting with allowing accessory dwelling units (or “in-law units”) in neighborhoods that were formerly single-family only. This is a way to increase density, provide for housing diversity and help homeowners hold onto and maintain their homes.

I support allowing existing residences to be split into apartments in all zoning categories without having to pass legislation for each conversion, increasing density in neighborhoods that were traditionally single family homes.

Disagree
I believe the process could be streamlined in zones that allow for multi-unit properties on a single lot. However, I also support communities’ desire to maintain the character and predictability of their neighborhoods.

At 20mph, 90% of pedestrians survive being hit by a car. At 40mph, only 10% survive. I support enforcing a maximum speed limit of 25 mph on arterial streets, and 20 mph on local streets.

Disagree
I support measures we are working on through development of the City’s Complete Streets Manual that will increase safety on City streets by creating “street typologies” that assign speed limits based on the roadway’s function and design.

Allowing turns on red is a contributing factor in increased pedestrian injury and death. I support banning turns on red at all intersections that allow pedestrian crossing.

Disagree
I believe there are other measures we can implement to increase safety at intersections. This is an issue I can see Baltimore studying further.

Automated Speed and Red Light Enforcement Cameras are widely proven to reduce fatal collisions. I support using these cameras on any street, not just near schools and construction sites.

Agree
I think the cameras are great. Unfortunately, it’s a question of how to pay for putting them everywhere. Adding more enforcement cameras as we upgrade our infrastructure is a priority.

The Automated Speed Enforcement Camera current threshold is 12 miles per hour. I support cameras being able to issue citations for those traveling 5 miles per hour or more over the speed limit.

No answer

I would invest in automated enforcement cameras that will issue citations to private automobiles for being stopped or parked in bus lanes.

Agree
This sounds like a great idea. However, it seems like the capital costs for this would be prohibitive other than on a pilot basis.

Dedicated bus lanes and bus boarding islands are proven to dramatically improve bus reliability and boarding times. I support removing parking or travel lanes to create bus lanes and boarding islands to improve bus performance.

Agree
The number of parking spaces sacrificed is relatively small compared to the benefits of making the bus system run better, and making the stops more attractive and safer for riders.

There are also other ways to innovate for making parking more efficient and fitting in more spaces.

The city adopted the Greenway Trails Network plan that will connect existing trails such as Gwynns Falls Trail and Herring Run Trail to create a 35-mile trail loop that connects 80% of Baltimore’s neighborhoods to greenspace and recreational trails. I support the construction of these trail connections, even if it requires using grass medians or taking road space or parking space away from private automobiles.

Agree
This is a process that is only just beginning and the communities along the trail’s routes will get to voice their concerns. We need to balance the priorities of residents facing the routes with the benefits of creating this network – both for those neighborhoods and for the city as a whole.

Ultimately, this is going to be a hybrid network of “linear parks,” which bring new, usable open space into neighborhoods that don’t have it now, and designated sections of the roadway that bring people to nearby destinations. We need to start from the place of figuring out how to make the Trail Network work for everybody and serve a wide range of needs and user groups.