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. 

Transportation is a question of mobility and opportunity, a question of pollution and public health, a question of economic expansion, and a question of civil rights, all at once. Transportation must be at the center of any effort to transform Baltimore into a place of opportunity. My vision of that transformation is a comprehensive regional public transit system equal to the needs of Baltimore. That means working with federal partners to secure infrastructure funds for long-term projects, and increasing funding and accountability immediately for existing systems like the MTA bus service and MobilityLink. It means prioritizing mobility options over private car use from bike and pedestrian infrastructure to planning decisions and zoning policy. Finally, it means keeping people safe from drivers of motor vehicles by following Vision Zero best practices.

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 greatest barriers to getting people out of their cars are distance, safety, and reliability. Distance can be addressed by supporting density so that people have walkable options within their communities. Safety can be addressed by building infrastructure that protects pedestrians and bikers, keeping their paths free of debris and other obstructions, and ensuring that DOT and BPD officers deter unsafe driving behavior. Reliability can be addressed by funding the MTA at levels high enough to provide more frequent and on-time bus service and demanding accountability.

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? 

I do not support highway widening and would support a moratorium on highway widening going forward.

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? 

Baltimore needs greater power over the transportation systems we all rely on, and is unusual among major US cities in its reliance on a State agency. The effort to create a Regional Transportation Authority is long in the making and has been steadily gaining traction among disparate groups that care deeply about the future of the City. I would like to move this effort forward and believe that with a supportive new governor, State legislation is the best strategy. In terms of specifics, I am familiar with the RTA model described in the BRTB 2021 report which accomplishes the most important goals of a regional authority.

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? 

There has not been sufficient political will and leadership to change course. I support using eligible federal transportation funds for transit, bike, pedestrian and ADA infrastructure, consistent with federal rules.

How do you typically commute to work or run errands? Describe the last trips you made by walking, biking, and public transit. 

I normally take either an MTA bus or the Circulator to work along the St. Paul/Charles corridor. When the weather is beautiful, I walk or jog to and from work. In the past, I have biked to and from work. I live in Better Waverly near a Farmer's Market, Ace Hardware Store and two grocery stores, so do most of my food houseware shopping by foot. During COVID, I have spent less time on the bus and more time on foot.

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 has some of the worst roads and congestion in the nation. Additionally, more than 50% of our bridges are over 50 years old. We have to prioritize maintenance, safety and effective congestion solutions over new roads.

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

This is consistent with Maryland's recently passed commitment to dramatically reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, would strengthen our communities, reduce transportation cost burdens on families, and reduce historic racial disparities.

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.

Agree

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

Not only will this reduce our state's subsidy of private vehicle use, but will also make housing more affordable and allow more creative integration of developments into their communities.

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

While single family residential zoning has indeed advanced racial and economic segregation and impeded affordable housing efforts, it is important to remember that for so many families in Baltimore and across Maryland their house is their greatest economic asset and source of intergenerational wealth. The State should not impose changes on communities like Baltimore but engage localities on solutions.