Narrative Questions
Describe your vision of a healthy, safe, equitable transportation system for the Baltimore Region and the roles walking, biking, and public transportation play in that vision.
My vison has not changed much since 2018. My vision for a healthy, safe, equitable transportation system for Baltimore City and the roles walking, biking, and public transportation play in that vision is that all residents are within a reasonable commute to and from work, educational opportunity, family and play (social), by a mode of transportation that is affordable for all, and that does not rely heavily on car or even a need for a car. I vision a city where construction workers can jump on the transit to get to their worksite by 6am and late shift workers can jump on transit to get home in the late hours of the morning.
For Baltimore City to grow and thrive as other cities with adequate transit choices have, it must have comprehensive public transportation supported by a multi-mode transportation system infrastructure that provides our residents the ability to get in and around town with timely ease. What we do not need is the infrastructure we have now: one that heavily relies on vehicles, a system built to get people in and out of the city rather than in and around the city.
The fastest and most economical way to address climate change, improve public health, and create equal access to opportunity is to reduce dependence on private automobiles. What are the biggest barriers to getting people to choose walking, biking, and public transit instead of personal vehicles for daily trips, and what would you do to address these impediments?
The biggest barriers to getting people to choose walking, biking, and public transit instead of personal vehicles for daily trips is disinvestment in transit and a lack of investments infrastructure to allow residents to safely walk, bike and bus (sidewalk repair, ADA accessibility, traffic calming, for example). In my first session (2019) the then secretary of transportation stated that only 7% of the state use transit which was his and the governors reasoning for highway widening, investment. When transit is not a priority of the administration, it is a definite barrier for the people who want it and need it the most. To address this impediment(s), first we must elect a governor who values and prioritizes transit in the city, region and across the state. Second, we must fund transit so that it meets the needs of users across the city state and region. Third, as we did this legislative session, increase the HUR funds for jurisdictions so that they can build out 21st century walk, biking, and busing infrastructure.
Maryland and its jurisdictions continue to spend money on road and highway widening despite overwhelming evidence that it actually increases traffic and congestion through induced demand. Justification for widening is often that it will improve road safety, which is also discredited. What is your position on Maryland and its jurisdictions spending money this way, and would you support a moratorium on road and highway widening?
My position on Maryland and its jurisdictions spending money this way is that is it of course not the appropriate way to use funding by a transportation department that is not using funding for all transit options for the state, nor supports moving residents around the state without vehicles. I would support halting all road and highway widening projects so that we can review and implement pedestrian and road safety for current roads and highways, and design alternative plans for transit-oriented projects.
Describe your understanding for the need of a Baltimore Regional Transportation Authority. Do you support creation of a regional authority, and if so, how would you legislate or guide the state’s role in creating and sustaining it?
My understanding for the need of a Baltimore Regional Transportaton Authority is:
we are among a very small group of urban cities that do not have a regional authority
it removes the control from the state that currently hinders cities like Baltimore/region from having an on-time, innovative, and comprehensive system
the region needs authority, accountability, to make decisions about its transit needs for residents to move around the city, and the region, creating more opportunity for competitiveness by meeting work, school, business, and personal/social transit needs.
The authority can help with increasing ridership, on-time delivery (service), and coordination of systems in the region and state. One person, office, cannot continue to make decisions that continue to devastate the state system there by devastating Baltimore.
Since the 1990’s federal surface transportation authorization laws have set the rules and formulas for federal transportation funding flowing to states. Two of the largest categories, the Surface Transportation Block Grant program and the National Highway Performance Program, can be used for many forms of surface transportation including highways, transit, bike, pedestrian, and ADA infrastructure. However, state departments of transportation, MDOT included, have used them almost exclusively for highway projects and much of its new capacity. That has resulted in growth in traffic volumes, travel times, and carbon pollution. In your view, why have those trends continued?
In my view, those trends have continued because there is more economic gain for large corporations and industry: more cars (made, bought, and sold), more large-scale construction contracts, toll lane highways created for “revenue.” There is an opinion that the transit, bike, pedestrian, and ADA infrastructure is not sexy enough and will not produce the "job economy" that highways and roads would. This is certainly not true and as we have seen the disinvestment has crippled major cities like Baltimore. This also goes back to my earlier comment about the administration 1) not understanding transportation policy with not desire to understand it, and 2) making transportation a priority beyond highways and roads.
How do you typically commute to work or run errands? Describe the last trips you made by walking, biking, and public transit.
I work from home since the pandemic (2020). When possible, and the bus comes on time, I ride the bus to meetings, personal appointments, etc. I bike for leisure and social gatherings, not much for day-to-day transportation. To run errands, I either walk, bus, or drive depending on where I am going (how far and the time of day) or what I am hauling/purchasing. I am usually in walking distance of most errands. Given the past two years, and virtual meetings, I do not travel much. I use my car during the 90-day session going back and forth to Annapolis once a week. Once in Annapolis, my car stays parked for the week. I walk everywhere I need to go. Other than that, I barely drive. Since 2015, I have only put three thousand miles a year per year on my car. The last trip that I can remember using public transportation was in the summer, a Sunday in August, I wanted to take the bus to the O's game. I arrive at Greenmount & 33rd to wait for the bus. The bus was delayed by an hour, but the app stated it would arrive any moment. I panicked, called an uber, and the uber and bus arrived at about the same time. Embarrassingly enough, I waited it out longer than the other two people with me who gave up 10-15 minutes earlier and caught a hack. This is not the first time I have had this experience but given I was meeting someone at the game, I needed to be on time. While disappointed, I still take the bus whenever I can if I cannot walk, bike, or take a virtual meeting.
Agree/Disagree Questions
Maryland and its jurisdictions should be required to “fix-it-first,” funding deferred maintenance of bridges and roads and safety retrofits like road diets, sidewalks, ADA compliance, and other infrastructure prioritizing vulnerable road users before spending on new roads and infrastructure.
Agree
Maryland should adopt a funding rubric for all transportation investment that follows a modal hierarchy prioritizing pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders over personal automobile use, and mandates that these investments prioritize racial and economic equity.
Agree
Highway User Revenues continue to decrease as cars become more efficient, and semi-autonomous driving technology is allowing more comfortable long distance commutes. To address this, Maryland should introduce an income-based Vehicle Miles Traveled tax.
I honestly do not know much about income-based vehicle miles traveled tax to agree or disagree. I am going to read up on this a bit more. I hope I can learn from the organization about their over goal in creating and using this tax.
Maryland should require and fund all-ages-and abilities bicycle infrastructure in retrofits of existing roads and construction of new roads, including fully separated infrastructure or side paths/trails on collector roads, arterial roads, state highways, and interstates.
Agree
There has been a dramatic increase in car crashes that injure and kill people walking and biking, who are then frequently sued by a driver’s insurance. Maryland should move from contributory negligence to a strict liability model for crashes involving vulnerable road users.
Agree
Paired with a requirement for income-based fines, Maryland should authorize jurisdictions to utilize additional types of automated enforcement like bus lane cameras and stop sign cameras, remove geographic restrictions, and allow a reduced threshold for triggering speed cameras.
Agree
Maryland should allow local jurisdictions to lower their own speed limits based on roadway typology instead of based on expensive engineering studies for each road segment, and should set a statewide upper urban speed limit of 25 miles per hour.
Agree
Maryland should require employers provide “Parking Cash Out,” valuing the cost of parking subsidized or paid for by employers and allowing employees the option of taking that benefit as a cash payout in the amount of the parking subsidy instead.
Agree
Maryland should require jurisdictions to eliminate parking minimums and institute parking maximums in new development, as well as require the cost of parking be unbundled from rent, giving individuals the choice to rent without paying for parking.
Agree
It’s widely accepted that single family zoning advances racial and economic segregation. Maryland should ban single family zoning at the state level, allowing both single family and multifamily residences to be built in all zoning areas.
Agree
We touched on this during this past session in the environment and transportation committee. While I completely agree, this topic needs more conversation throughout the city, mainly, and state or we will continue to see more resistance to make this important change.