Bike and Pedestrian Planner Caitlin Doolin with the Baltimore Sustainability Turtle, former BCDOT Director William Johnson, and Bikemore Board Chair Yair Flicker.

Biking in Baltimore has improved dramatically over the past few years. Miles of new infrastructure, the launch of bike share, and an energetic new wave of elected officials and advocates that believe in Complete Streets have signaled a sea change in how we think about and plan for transportation.

As advocates, our role is often to push the city to do more. But we would be remiss if we did not recognize that it has been the talent and dedication of key staff at Baltimore City’s Department of Transportation that has enabled our vision of a bike friendly Baltimore to begin to take hold.

Perhaps no one deserves more credit than Caitlin Doolin, our City’s Bike and Pedestrian planner. Today marks Caitlin’s last day with the city. She is moving to Charlotte, NC to begin a new chapter with her fiancé. Over the past two years of her employment, she has taken her role within the Department of Transportation to new heights. We are grateful both for her leadership and service.

Liz Cornish and Caitlin Doolin at the Baltimore Bike Share Launch.

During Caitlin’s tenure she managed the planning, design and implementation for over $9 million in capital projects over two years. Due to her talent and diligence in securing state and federal transportation funding, she dramatically increased our capacity for active transportation improvements, securing $3.6 million in new funding for Baltimore City. She led the planning process that delivered critical documents such as the 2015 Bike Master Plan and the 2017 Separated Bike Network Plan that propose 80 miles of new facilities over the next five years. In under three years, Baltimore has gone from 1 mile of protected bike infrastructure to 9 miles. When the Downtown Bike Network is completed this spring, Baltimore will rank among the top ten cities in the United States for miles of protected bike lanes.

For her work in supervising the planning and launch of the largest electric-assist bike share fleet in North America, Caitlin, along with her supervisor Veronica McBeth, was awarded the 2016 WTS Innovative Transportation Award.

Caitlin Doolin at the Maryland Avenue bike parade.

Caitlin’s passion for Baltimore and for bicycling has been a critical force in ensuring our advocacy efforts take root. We are also grateful for our relationships with other key staff at the Department of Transportation who remain steadfast partners and supporters. So while Caitlin’s absence will be felt, we are confident that both our partners that remain and whomever is selected to fill her role will continue to help us advance projects that make it safer, more comfortable, and more fun to ride a bike in Baltimore.

We are also lucky that Caitlin has accepted a position with Kittleson and Associates that will allow her to work from Charlotte and continue to visit Baltimore on occasion. We can’t wait to ride bikes together on those visits and marvel at how her hard work has planted seeds that will continue to grow long after her time here.

Thank you Caitlin! Happy (bike)Trails!