The Big Jump had a big win

This month, the Big Jump had a big win -- Bikemore and Baltimore City DOT were awarded a major grant from NACTO to improve traffic calming along the Big Jump and Lake Montebello and make the Big Jump semi-permanent infrastructure with concrete barriers and art. This is a huge step forward in our commitment to equitable and sustainable transportation. 

Back in 2018, Baltimore City DOT installed the Big Jump as a temporary protected pathway that allowed for alternative forms of transportation across the 28th St. Bridge over the Jones Falls Expressway. For the first time, people could safely bike, run, stroll, skate, or otherwise travel across the bridge without a car between Reservoir Hill and Remington.

The implementation of the Big Jump worked to dismantle the systemic racism that divided these two neighborhoods sixty years ago – the nearby car-only JFX had sacrificed the connectivity of neighborhoods for more convenient commutes and white flight. For the 50% of households next to the Big Jump that lacked access to a vehicle, this was a game-changing development and opened up access to Druid Hill Park. 

Most importantly, the Big Jump signaled that the Baltimore City DOT cared about re-designing our city to make it more accessible, sustainable, and equitable. 

Now, we’re able to go even further: this money will help us strengthen the Big Jump with the help of our community: Graham Projects will lead enhancing the corridor with community-based art, Black People Ride Bikes will provide bike rides and safety lessons, and DOT will implement permanent traffic calming infrastructure in nearby areas. 

Originally, we convinced the city to try out the Big Jump as a pilot project. But your support for the Big Jump changed the course of this story. Now, it’s a permanent example of equitable, accessible, and sustainable infrastructure. 

Your donation means we can push harder for more innovative and equitable developments. Can we count on you to keep the momentum going? 

Donations made through this form will go to our 501(c)(4), Bikemore in Action, our greatest need. To make a charitable donation through our 501(c)(3), click here.

Friday Night Lights: creating connection in our parks!

Photo credit to Matthew D’Agostino (DAGFOTO.co)

At the core of Bikemore's work is our vision of a connected city - one where people know each other and can access the resources & opportunities they want. We are grateful that we had the opportunity to foster connection last week at Friday Night Lights. Thank you to all of those who came out and made it happen! Photos from the event are available on our Facebook album.

Bikemore believes that Lake Montebello and Herring Run Park should be accessible to the neighbors surrounding the park and people without cars. Thankfully, a lot has been happening to create greater connection between these parks and the rest of the city through improvements to our infrastructure. Here's what we've been working on around Lake Montebello:

• Lake Montebello will likely remain closed to car traffic permanently. We are advocating for changes to the parking configuration at Lake Montebello Elementary/Middle to ensure car traffic does not interfere with all-ages, safe access to the lake loop. Councilwoman Ramos and Councilman Dorsey are supportive and moving forward with plans to make this change permanent. 

• Baltimore City DOT and Bikemore have won a grant from the National Association of City Transportation Officials to make the entrance to and parking surrounding Lake Montebello safer for people walking, biking, and driving, and will be partnering with Black People Ride Bikes and Graham Projects on implementation and celebration of this work.

• Harford Rd. Bridge now has a Complete Streets design with a mixed-use protected walking/biking/rolling path, a bus lane, and reduced car traffic to two lanes.

• Mayor Brandon Scott has committed to building the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network as a priority in his administration. This 35-mile loop would connect Lake Montebello and Herring Run to Druid Hill Park and Canton Waterfront Park by protected trail infrastructure.

If you're interested in seeing more events like this in the future, please let us know! Want to support Bikemore? Help us out by starting a small monthly donation. Even $5/month helps Bikemore build sustainability from grassroots donors like yourself. 

Please continue support the work of Divayogi, Friends of Herring Run Parks, Impact Hub Baltimore, and Rails to-Trails Conservancy who led our yoga & hike sessions. 

We’re excited about the success of this event and are looking for other ideas of how we do Friday Night Lights in other spaces in Baltimore!

Creating more affordable housing through R7/R8 Conversions

This Spring, Bikemore interns Sumi and Patrick embarked on educating folks about R7/R8 conversions and how increasing housing density is good policy for advancing equity and strengthening our transportation. While the original bill, 21-0009 will likely not make it out of committee, we still wanted to share this information knowing that larger housing reforms are necessary. This blog post was written by Patrick Reid, and video interviews were conducted and edited by Sumi Kim.

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How could zoning make housing affordable?

In this video, Tyrell Dixon from Project Own, discusses how multi-family zoning would allow developers to create affordable and accessible housing and work to reverse Baltimore's historically racist housing policies.

How does zoning increase access?

In this video, Ryan Flanagan, advocate for affordable housing, describes how building more multi-family housing will create access to the resources and amenities that everyone needs.

Why is multi-family housing beneficial?

In this video, Councilman Ryan Dorsey, explains how the racist and inequitable history of Baltimore housing means we have to make dramatic changes to reverse the damaging effects of past policy.

The issues of redistricting of R-7 and R-8 zoning isn't a necessarily flashy and exciting policy agenda but is very important in the ways it lends itself to equity and an inclusive and complete neighborhood.

 The legislation before the Baltimore City Council, which was introduced by Councilman Bullock and endorsed by Councilman Dorsey and Burnett, is an effort to expand the types of housing available in the R-7 and R-8 designated zoning categories. These zones allow for higher densities and the ability to convert single family homes into multi-family units. Currently the process for this conversion is arduous. In order for a conversion to be carried out the City Council must pass a specific law in the form of an ordinance to allow the property to be converted. This existing process is cumbersome and very inefficient and the new legislation would do a lot to streamline the conversions!

If the legislation were to pass, then as long as the building met the required codes, the conversion could be allowed without the passage of an ordinance. Specifically this would mean that the large homes in Baltimore's neighborhoods like Bolton Hill could be converted from their current single family residency to multiple apartments within the building, increasing affordability. Converting a single family city mansion into apartments for 4 families could have a really profound impact on the equity of the city.  It would allow more people to access more communities that have better amenities and better access to jobs and transit systems. 

This type of housing can also be referred to as the “missing middle” in reference to a middle ground between low density single family units and then high density apartment buildings. Communities like this have huge upsides when it comes to transportation access. One source from the New York City region has found that “Higher density helps expand transportation choices by providing riders options like bike, bus, and rail. Investments in transportation systems need density to justify resource allocation and achieve returns.” By creating denser and more affordable housing options, cities can advance stronger transportation and biking initiatives that serve more people. 

Image from: https://capla.arizona.edu/studio/new-kid-town-missing-middle-housing

Single family housing, especially in cities, is a really unsustainable way of organizing land. It forces land and property to be sold at large and unaffordable quantities, leaving many residents to struggle without stable housing. This kind of housing is also grounded in elements of classism and racism because of the way it was first developed. Initially, many areas that primarily used single family zoning were designated as “white” neighborhoods during the practice known as redlining. Redlining is the nefarious practice of refusing loans in areas deemed as high financial risk areas based on race and income that has historically excluded groups of people from buying homes and land. It is one of several systemic factors that has stunted the ability of many Black Americans to accumulate wealth. Locally here in Baltimore, the process also created a hugely unequal distribution of land wealth and placed it in the hands of wealthy, white Baltimoreans and displaced communities of color. Black and POC communities were left victimized by incredibly unfair zoning regulations. A specific example of this is Roland Park, where racial housing covenants made it impossible for Black Baltimoreans to own land or housing in the neighborhood.

By making it easier to rezone from single to multi-use, the city of Baltimore would be correcting these historical wrongs and helping to level the uneven playing field of housing inequality.  Mixed use housing and multi family units are a great way to connect people with affordable housing options in an urban community, improve access and quality of public transit and make walking and biking much easier and safer. 

How does bike parking on the MARC affect ADA?

Back in May during Bike to Work Week, MDOT and MTA announced that starting on June 1, all MARC trains would accommodate full sized bikes. This means that now the Camden, Penn, and Brunswick lines all have bike parking spots. This is huge news in improving accessibility for regional, multi-modal transit. Previously, only certain trains accommodated bikes and this was only consistent on weekend Penn Line service.

After the announcement, a number of folks have expressed concern about bike parking on the MARC trains taking away ADA spots on some cars. We reached out to the MTA for clarification on this issue and have some follow up details.  

There are four different MARC car styles with bike parking. One type of car is a “bike car” and has 10+ horizontal parking spots. Two types of cars have 2 vertical spots at each end of the car with exterior green lights to signal space availability. And finally, one car where bikes can be secured over folding chairs with bungee cords. These are the same style of the seats that can be used for users with wheelchairs and other accessibility needs.

Each MARC train will have a variation of cars, and therefore a variation of bike parking. It’s likely that people will have multiple options for parking their bike on the train, not just folding chair spots.

On cars with folding chairs, only one of the two entrances will be allowed for bike parking; cyclists should look for a green “Bicycle Entrance” sign adjacent to the car doors to know where to park their bike. The other end will have blue ADA signs to indicate the ADA entrance.

One side of these cars will always have dedicated ADA seating, and the MTA stated that people with disabilities will have priority over bicycles for all spots and people sitting in the folding seats on either end are not required to move for bicycles. 

Obviously conflict between users could still arise and this has the potential to lead to harm. MTA is using the 90% decline in ridership to test the new policy. Ultimately as demand for the MARC increases, they must expand capacity for all types of users and prioritize ADA needs. The MTA should receive more funding for all of its services; including MARC trains, which could all have a dedicated bike parking car to increase accessibility and reduce conflicts.

MTA recently released a video that demonstrates how to park your bike on the various types of MARC train cars, available to watch here. For more details about using bikes with MTA services, visit MTA’s website.

We hope this helps answer some questions.

A future for Bikemore

We are searching for Bikemore’s next executive director.

Bikemore has made huge strides in the past six years: We advocated for and built the Maryland Avenue and Monument Street cycle tracks. We endorsed and elected a progressive, young mayor who is dedicated to building Complete Streets and the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network. We grew from a staff of one to a staff of five, all people who are dedicated to improving transportation in Baltimore City.

We know we still have a ways to go. In our search for our next executive director, we are looking for someone who will lead the charge to grow and diversify our work, building on Bikemore’s mission of advocating for a livable city.

We want to ensure the vision of Complete Streets is enacted everywhere from routine resurfacing to visionary projects. We want to increase funding for and expand service on our public transit systems. We want to completely reimagine our roadways and land use and housing policies to make Baltimore a city where everyone has access to the things they need and want.

So help us out. The single best way you can contribute to that is by starting a monthly donation.

Building financial stability is critical for us to attract the new leader we all want, and that stability will give them time to get acquainted with the role, our strategic plan, and chart a course for success.

Our average monthly donor gives $18 a month. But any size of recurring gift you make helps us build impact from small, grassroots dollars to transformative change in Baltimore’s walking, biking, and transit infrastructure.

Can you support Bikemore in our next phase? Start a donation today.

Donations made through this form will go to our 501(c)(4), Bikemore in Action, our greatest need. To make a charitable donation through our 501(c)(3), click here.