Describe your vision of a healthy, safe, equitable transportation system for Baltimore City and the roles walking, biking, and public transportation play in that vision.

Baltimore residents should all have multiple non-car options to get to work and play, and owning a car should not be a prerequisite to employment and economic survival. None of the non-car options should require any of us to risk our lives, and all of them — bus, biking, walking, scooting — should be easy to access and understand. Our city needs leadership willing to buck the “but this is how we’ve always done it” or “Black people don’t ride bikes” mentality that limits our horizon. It is a vision that converts our city from commuter-driven to resident-driven, that does not view city-dwellers as less-than, that does not sacrifice neighborhood strength and safety to the needs of out-of-towners in cars — because we know that out-of-towners will want to come anyway if we are a vibrant, strong place weaved together by easy ways to get around our city.

The fastest and most economical way to address climate change, improve public health, and create equal access to opportunity is to design a city that reduces dependence on private automobiles. What are the biggest barriers to getting people to choose walking, biking, or public transit instead of personal vehicles, and what would you do to address these impediments?

Too many residents default to the car because non-car travel is deprioritized at all levels of city government and our city’s culture. Coming from NYC, I spent my first week as a lawyer in City Hall a decade ago taking the M15 bus down Gay Street to work, and people thought I was crazy. Public transit has historically not been user-friendly, and buying a fare is opaque and confusing. We need free transit days on the MTA bus (ideally, free weeks, or a free system altogether). We need a massive public education campaign on how to buy bus fare, and use the system. We need to drastically increase the number of bus-only lanes, and build more bus shelters. Safety fears prevent more biking and walking — our streets are just so dangerous. Biking can’t be left to young road warriors, and separated infrastructure along major corridors is the key to more biking — particularly on flat east-west routes.

In 2017, the Planning Commission approved the Separated Bike Lane Network plan that connects 85% of Baltimore’s neighborhoods by creating safe, protected places to ride a bike. Do you agree with the plan’s recommendations, and if so, what would you do to ensure that we fulfill the plan’s promise to build a minimum of 17 miles of bike lanes per year? Are there specific areas of the city where you would prioritize implementation?

I strongly support the plan’s recommendations. As Vice-Chair of the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Commission I was part of the effort to fight for the network. There are too many complaints and bureaucratic roadblocks, however, and the answer to this is not just a new mayor and Council president committed to separated bike infrastructure — which I am — but an overhaul of the capital planning and project delivery process that starts with abolition of the city’s Board of Estimates. That opens the door to unifying the various capital programs across city government, to drive the vision and align projects and resources. Transportation projects in particular affect the whole city, but the planning, award, and delivery processes are confused and frankly broken. I would prioritize bike connections between the new Black Arts District on Pennsylvania Avenue and the Howard Street corridor.

Approximately 50 people are killed on city streets each year while walking, biking, or driving, with another 9,000 people injured. What is your plan to reduce the number of Baltimoreans injured and killed in traffic every year?

We need an urgent, massive overhaul of traffic management and maintenance in our city. Certainly, we need public education, but the reckless driving I witness on a daily basis has to be corralled by clear signage, roadway design, and paint. Right now our traffic planning prioritizes a mad dash escape at rush hour — and this encourages careless driving even in areas far removed from main commuter corridors. I would advocate for the removal of all peak hour restrictions, on all streets, narrower lanes, and “main street” style improvement to the main corridors to beautify them, narrow lanes, and slow cars down. I would also advocate for making corridors like Preston, Biddle, and Harford Road two way. I don’t think it’s fair to prioritize major north-south corridors two-way when it is neighborhoods such as those on the east side that need real stabilization — and respect.

Approximately 800 Baltimoreans die early every year from preventable diseases related to carbon emissions, more than double the city’s murder rate. Thousands more are hospitalized each year as these emissions trigger asthma and other respiratory diseases. There is a strong correlation between hospitalization and proximity to major car commuter routes. What is your plan to reduce carbon emissions from automobiles in order to decrease the number of Baltimoreans hurt by and dying from emissions-related diseases?

When I was Assistant Deputy Mayor for Operations I was one of the most vocal advocates for the Red Line in City Hall, routinely debating other members of the mayor’s senior staff who were not enthusiastic about the project (and elected officials who, now that the project is dead, are glad to support it). We need to build the system that was planned in the 1960s parallel to the D.C. system. We pay the price for not building the system that D.C. did, every day — and our poorest residents pay the highest price in terms of emissions and access to jobs. D.C. built their system the same way every major city in the country did, with a regional authority. As Council President, I can advocate for electric city vehicles, charging stations, and use of transit, but the most important thing I can do is fight for regional transit built by a regional authority that should have been created 50 years ago.

Do you walk for transportation? If so, for what purposes, how often, and what was your last trip walking?

I regularly walk. Before the crush of this campaign, I would often walk to work from my home in Greenmount West to my law firm in the Transamerica building. It is a peaceful opportunity to collect my thoughts and observe my surroundings at slow speeds, making chance encounters with neighbors and the unexpected. My last walking trip was this afternoon from my home to the SURJ legislative forum in Charles North.

Do you use public transportation? If so, for what purposes, how often, and what was your last trip by public transportation?

I routinely ride public transportation, and one of the reasons I chose my neighborhood was proximity to Penn Station and the bus lines on St. Paul Street and Charles Street. In warmer weather, I prefer biking to work, but in colder weather, I prefer taking the Silver or Green routes from Penn to my office (or, the Circulator). I have a Charm Card and was glad to finally have a way to upload money to it. (One of the biggest obstacles to the current system is just how opaque that process was, and still is to some degree). My last public transportation trip was a bus ride to work.

Do you ever ride a bicycle? Is it for transportation, recreation, or both? What was your last trip by bicycle?

I ride my bike all the time. I biked to law school on a daily basis twenty years ago in Philadelphia. Here, I got back on the bike regularly in 2012 when I moved to Mount Vernon. My first Bike Party was August 2012 and it remains one of the best things one can do in Baltimore. I primarily ride for transportation, to and from work and social engagements, because it maximizes my freedom. However, because I am a wimp, even though it has been a milder winter, and because I keep missing Bike Party, my last bike trip was to work in November.

Baltimore’s urban areas have limited space on streets. In order to increase safety and improve mobility, some modes of transportation must be prioritized over others to make the most of this limited space. Please rank how you would prioritize different modes of transportation on city streets, using numbers 1 through 7:

1. Public Transportation
2. Personal Automobiles
3. Bicycles & Scooters
4. Walking & devices that aid people with a disability
5. Freight and Delivery
6. Ride Hailing Services (Taxi, Uber, Lyft)
7. Parking

Agree or disagree?

I support removing parking on a street if it would improve safety and increase mobility of people using that street.

Agree

Minimum parking requirements are shown to increase housing costs while limiting potential density and making neighborhoods less walkable. I support following the lead of other cities that have removed minimum parking requirements from new development.

Agree

Some cities require employers that subsidize parking also offer an option for employees to receive that subsidy as a cash payment. I support a mandate that employers offer parking cashout so that employees can choose to pocket that money, use it for alternative transportation, or continue using that cash to pay for parking.

Agree

Increasing density in areas of opportunity is proven to help individuals escape poverty. I support taller, denser, or larger buildings in areas they are now prohibited by zoning.

Agree

Transit oriented development can expand access to areas of opportunity by locating housing and retail along high frequency transit. Current zoning code only identifies these zones along subway and light rail routes. I support expanded Transit Oriented Development zoning to include areas within a quarter mile of high-frequency bus routes.

Agree

It is now widely accepted that Single Family Residential Zoning was historically created to maintain racial segregation. I support removing Single Family Residential Zoning categories, allowing both single family and multi family residences to be built in all residential zoning areas.

Agree

I support allowing existing residences to be split into apartments in all zoning categories without having to pass legislation for each conversion, increasing density in neighborhoods that were traditionally single family homes.

Agree

At 20mph, 90% of pedestrians survive being hit by a car. At 40mph, only 10% survive. I support enforcing a maximum speed limit of 25 mph on arterial streets, and 20 mph on local streets.

Agree

Allowing turns on red is a contributing factor in increased pedestrian injury and death. I support banning turns on red at all intersections that allow pedestrian crossing.

Agree

Automated Speed and Red Light Enforcement Cameras are widely proven to reduce fatal collisions. I support using these cameras on any street, not just near schools and construction sites.

Agree

The Automated Speed Enforcement Camera current threshold is 12 miles per hour. I support cameras being able to issue citations for those traveling 5 miles per hour or more over the speed limit.

Agree

I would invest in automated enforcement cameras that will issue citations to private automobiles for being stopped or parked in bus lanes.

Agree

Dedicated bus lanes and bus boarding islands are proven to dramatically improve bus reliability and boarding times. I support removing parking or travel lanes to create bus lanes and boarding islands to improve bus performance.

Agree

The city adopted the Greenway Trails Network plan that will connect existing trails such as Gwynns Falls Trail and Herring Run Trail to create a 35-mile trail loop that connects 80% of Baltimore’s neighborhoods to greenspace and recreational trails. I support the construction of these trail connections, even if it requires using grass medians or taking road space or parking space away from private automobiles.

Agree