Kevin Harris
Candidate for: Mayor
https://www.kevinharris4office.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.
My vision of Baltimore is a vibrant, green city where residents can seamlessly commute from home to work via public transit, disembark at bustling commercial hubs to grab meals, enjoy shopping and entertainment, and then conveniently return home all without the necessity of a personal vehicle. I want to create a public transportation utility managed by the city that does not rely on Annapolis for funding and prioritizes the needs and desires of city residents first. I will work to ensure that all city streets and sidewalks are safe for both cyclists and pedestrians and ensure that they are ADA compliant, allowing all of Baltimore’s citizens to easily travel from home to work to shopping centers. Nearly 30% of Baltimore City households do not have access to a personal vehicle and it’s time that our leaders prioritized the safety and convenience of Baltimore’s cyclists and pedestrians.
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?
Many Baltimore City residents prefer to use personal vehicles rather than relying on biking or public transportation because they feel it offers them more freedom and safety. To combat this, I plan to establish a city funded, city-operated transportation group that focuses on underserved communities in Baltimore City and communicates openly with citizens when determining transit routes and time-tables. I believe that given safe, convenient, and affordable options, many Baltimore City residents would opt out of using a personal vehicle in favor of using public transportation or biking.
What is your plan to continue to reduce the number of injuries and deaths on Baltimore City roadways each year?
I intend to create a program within DOT that works in tandem with neighborhood communities to pinpoint dangerous roads and intersections and begin immediate plans to install traffic calming measures such as street painting, flexible barriers, and reduced speed limits. Simultaneously, this program will work with DOT to start the process of installing speed bumps, bike and bus lanes, and plans to reduce the number of lanes of multi-lane streets.
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?
As I am legally blind in one eye, I have never owned or driven a personal vehicle. While I currently carpool on my daily commute to work alongside other members of my family, I am very familiar with Baltimore’s public transportation system and take the bus frequently, most often when I find myself downtown. Taking public transportation to my workplace everyday would take 30-50 minutes (as opposed to a 10-15 minute commute in a car), so more frequent stops in my neighborhood would absolutely make me more likely to use the bus. Additionally, I live near a very busy road and do not feel safe crossing the 4 lanes of traffic going 30 mph between my home and the bus stop and my wife and I find ourselves even less inclined to do so now that we have a toddler. I feel that better, safer access to the bus stop would greatly increase how often I use public transit.
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?
My plan is to create an interconnected Baltimore City and therefore I will prioritize finishing this network while adding to it to create a pedestrian and bike friendly city. I will work with DOT to ensure they know this is a priority and will also provide additional staffing and funding to get the job done. I will also ensure that once the City Council has made a decision and a commitment like the one made in the Bike Master Plan, that agency heads and staff will work aggressively to complete these projects and not allow those who are anti-progress to send these decisions back to committee.
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?
Yes, I am a firm believer in prioritizing the safety, comfort, and convenience of pedestrians, cyclists, and those on public transit over those in vehicles and strongly support the Complete Streets ordinance. I will absolutely commit to retaining this ordinance and making its implementation a priority through additional funding and resources.
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?
As the Red Line and parallel bike facilities will reduce the need for vehicles and thus the demand for parking, I am absolutely willing to remove significant areas of parking in this endeavor.
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?
As stated above, my goal is to make Baltimore City safer and more convenient for pedestrians, cyclists, and those on public transit and if surface routes are selected in these programs, I am committed to ensuring they have priority over parking areas.
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?
Yes, I absolutely support the Greenway Trails Network and I am committed to seeing the several small, disjointed trails and parks in my neighborhood connected to the trail loop in a safe and secure manner that makes them accessible without crossing busy multi-lane streets.
Agree or disagree?Do you support maintaining the city’s micro-mobility program that provides dockless bikes and scooters?
Yes
Would you support creation of a government subsidized bike share system?
Yes
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?
When we are working to create an interconnected city, some older infrastructure may have to be replaced to create new, better fitting infrastructure but I plan to keep as much as possible to reduce the cost and time necessary to connect the city. I plan to grow the network of bike infrastructure and will not reduce it’s size so any infrastructure removed will be replaced or expanded upon.
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?
Yes
Do you support banning turns on red at all intersections that permit pedestrian crossing?
Yes
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?
Yes
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?
Yes