Candidate for: City Council, 3rd District
ryan@electryandorsey.com | www.electryandorsey.com
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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 envision a Baltimore where everyone has convenient access to the destinations they need to thrive as whole people. In this future, walking is recognized as the fundamental building block of transportation. Safe infrastructure exists for bikes, scooters, and mobility devices to easily connect to every neighborhood. The backbone of the region's transportation system is fast and reliable transit. In this future, our transportation system will prioritize walking, biking, and public transportation to efficiently connect people to their destinations. We'll plan land use and transportation together, with equity at the center, so that neighborhoods will offer convenient access to everything a person needs to realize their potential.
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?
Overall, we've built a system that cannot provide a safe, effective alternative to the personal vehicle. We've locked ourselves into car dependency both through physical infrastructure that is inhospitable to any other use but motor vehicles, or through policies that protect the movement of cars over any other priority, including the health and safety of our communities. In many cases, the availability of safe infrastructure for comfortable use of non-automobile modes is the largest barrier. Where transit is concerned, we must transform physical infrastructure through improvements like dedicated bus lanes so that transit is able to operate effectively. I was proud work with Bikemore to pass landmark, award-winning Complete Streets legislation requiring that Baltimore design and operate streets in a way that meets the needs of all people and communities.
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?
Absolutely. I included the near-term build out of the Separated Bike Lane plan in my own transportation policy vision, Region-Centered, People-Centered. In order to actually begin building a minimum of 17 miles of safe, all-ages infrastructure a year, we must ensure that Baltimore City DOT is able to keep more of the funds raised from transportation sources like highway user revenues, ATVES camera revenues, etc. The Complete Streets manual, due in April, will describe a prioritization process. An equity lens should be used to ensure that investments are being made in communities where those investments will make the most difference, based on factors like race, income, jobs access, safety in terms of crashes and hospitalization. We should also prioritize where bike infrastructure can be easily added or where small gaps can be filled to dramatically improve access.
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?
Hot spots for injuries and deaths must be addressed through physical changes to infrastructure, installation of traffic calming and safety devices including ATVES cameras, and through public education discouraging reckless driving behavior. We should lower Baltimore's citywide speed limit to 25 mph, and I've drafted legislation to do just that. In the interim, I've also worked with our partners in Annapolis to get authority for BCDOT to lower speed limits in specific locations without performing an expensive traffic study, and I've encouraged the same autonomy be granted BCDOT for placement of new ATVES cameras. Long term, completely rebuilding our infrastructure for safe mobility is the best answer, however this transformation will take time, so its important to know what can be done as triage in the near-term.
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?
Simply put, we must reprioritize modes to encourage more walking, biking, and transit use, and less personal automobile use. This is the only way to reduce poisonous and climate-warming emissions from vehicles. While vehicles can be electrified, and they should be as much as possible, each new vehicle produced creates more climate-warming emissions from production than keeping a "dirty" vehicle on the road. We must also invest in tree canopy to help clean the air and mitigate the urban heat island effect.
Do you walk for transportation? If so, for what purposes, how often, and what was your last trip walking?
I maintain regular Tuesday office hours at Function Coworking Community on Harford Road. It’s about a mile and a half from my home if I walk the most direct route, and I do this about half the time. With the Harford Road bridge closed this gets me walking through my neighborhood, then cutting across Hooper Field, crossing Herring Run on the pedestrian bridge, up the Tyndall Trail to Parkside Drive, over to Harford Road and up. It’s a really pleasant walk, and a great opportunity to notice things like subpar sidewalk conditions along the way.
Do you use public transportation? If so, for what purposes, how often, and what was your last trip by public transportation?
I rode the bus to City Hall today. It’s what I do on most days when it’s raining. Even with biking as my primary commuting method, I prefer not to bike in the rain. I enjoy the walk to my stop. It’s about 10 minutes. I rarely spend any excess time waiting now that the entire MTA fleet has GPS in it and I can rely on the Transit app. It’s also nice to be able to pay with the CharmPass app.
Do you ever ride a bicycle? Is it for transportation, recreation, or both? What was your last trip by bicycle?
I bike regularly for commuting. My wife and I have been a one-car house since October of 2018. My bike commuting increased significantly when we took that plunge. Hers did, too. We both enjoy the lifestyle a lot. I’ve also been doing longer recreational rides since the summer of 2019. On the occasional Sunday when nobody else is available I take the opportunity to ride longer, typically about 50 miles. I took a bad fall a few weeks ago about 15 miles into my ride, alone, and then I had the flu. That kept me out of commission for a couple weeks. I took the time at home to make a couple fixes on my bike. I got back out and did 30 yesterday with a new set of handlebars, new hoods on my brake-shifters (a miracle that my uncle had a pair of long-since discontinued, 20 year-old, brand new OEM hoods still in the package), and new bar tape.
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. Bicycles and Scooters
3. Public Transportation
4. Ride Hailing Services (Taxi, Uber, Lyft)
5. Freight and Delivery
6. Personal Automobiles
7. Parking
Agree or disagree?I support removing parking on a street if it would improve safety and increase mobility of people using that street.
Agree
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
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've written a policy memo about this, and the Board of Estimates could take action immediately. Memo here: https:/bit.ly/baltimoretransportationbenefitsIncreasing 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
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
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.
Agree
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.
Agree
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.
Agree
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.
Agree
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
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.
Agree
I would invest in automated enforcement cameras that will issue citations to private automobiles for being stopped or parked in bus lanes.
Agree
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 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
District Specific Questions: 3rd District
The Hamilton Streetscape project follows the lead of other cities in reducing travel lanes for cars in a business district to add higher quality transit and bicycle amenities, which are proven to increase local business sales. I support prioritizing expanding higher quality transit and bicycle amenities down Harford Road to connect to Lake Montebello and Herring Run.
Agree