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.

My vision is for a city with an integrated public transit system that is significantly faster, more flexible and more reliable than the one we have today. For a system that makes our streets accessible and welcoming to pedestrians, cyclists, and disabled citizens as well as to drivers.

The current system of public transportation does not meet the needs of those who need it the most. We have to bring together the fragmented pieces of our transit system and make bus and transit travel dramatically faster. We can do this in the short term by dramatically expanding our network of dedicated bus lanes and creating an east-west transitway on one of our major corridors. Using signal prioritization will also speed up the movement of buses and light rail through the city. We also need to improve access to transit hubs like Penn North and Mondawmin and make the streetscapes around those hubs more attractive, welcoming and safe.

We can also modify our transit routes to link our neighborhoods more fully to job centers by public transit. Further expansion of the current subway is critical to meeting this goal. Protected bike lanes should be expanded to neighborhoods with few transportation options to make biking to work and school a safe and reliable form of transportation – and we need to build out the greenway system to make biking a safe and viable option across the entire city. A comprehensive public transit system will make it much easier for lower-income residents to get to work, school, grocery stores, medical care and other critical services. It will also enable more of those who currently use a personal vehicle to choose a more environmentally friendly bicycle or public-transportation commute. Reducing the number of cars on our streets will make cycling and walking safer and more viable ways to get around the 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?

I believe that the most significant barriers to getting people to choose walking, biking, or public transit are that our transit system is poorly integrated, unreliable and in many places terribly slow and that our roads and streetscapes are still overwhelmingly designed to move cars as quickly as possible rather than to meet the needs of bus riders, pedestrians and cyclists.

To remove these barriers, the city government needs to work with local, state and federal partners to take strong steps to improve our public transportation systems, re-design our streetscapes, and establish a fully connected protected bike lane network. There are several steps that we should take to make this happen. We need to properly fund and implement the 2017 Separated Bike Lane Plan and the 2018 Complete Streets Ordinance. We need to give priority to public transportation over private transportation on our streets, which includes expanding dedicated bus lanes and studying turning one of our east-west thoroughfares into an east-west transitway. We can also use signal prioritization, especially downtown, to speed the movement of light rail and bus traffic through the city and make public transit faster and more attractive for commuters. More broadly, we can take other steps to improve cross-town public transportation, especially along North Avenue, which would be a huge step forward, as would finding ways to make our existing bike lanes, bus routes, light rail and Metro systems work together more effectively as a city-wide transit network.

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?

As a founding member of the Baltimore City Commission on Sustainability, I strongly support the 2017 Separated Bike Lane Network plan and I am disappointed with the city’s delayed and incomplete implementation of the plan. Baltimore is often described as a city of neighborhoods and it is imperative that residents are connected - an incomplete bike network means that many potential commuter and recreational bicyclists are discouraged from riding due to safety concerns and barriers to access. There has to be greater coordination between the multiple agencies, organizations, and plans related to transit, mobility, and bicycling to ensure that we are using our resources effectively to complete projects in a timely manner. This coordination would also allow the city to better secure local, state, and federal funding to make these improvements. In terms of specific areas where I would want to prioritize implementation, I would want to focus on historically underinvested communities where many residents do not have access to a car. These communities are in the greatest need of improved and reliable transportation options that can offer connections to employment, schools, grocery stores, health facilities, and other important resources outside of their neighborhoods.

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?

These 50 deaths and 9,000 injuries that result from transit accidents on the streets of Baltimore City each year are tragic and also largely preventable. As mayor, I would increase investment in modern, complete streetscapes and previously proposed bike networks to improve safety and increase use by pedestrians and bicyclists. This would include the use of proven traffic calming strategies, expanded protected cycle tracks, improved lighting, and pedestrian signals to alert drivers. We need to make a major investment to make our streets safer and more welcoming to public transit riders, cyclists, pedestrians, scooter-riders and users of other innovative transportation forms. By encouraging forms of transportation other than the automobile, we can diminish congestion and pollution and improve safe mobility of residents across the entire city. These improvements should build upon the plans and processes already researched and detailed in the 2018 Complete Streets Ordinance, the 2017 Separated Lane Network Plan, and other projects, such as the Big Jump and the Maryland Ave. Cycle Track, to serve more neighborhoods and high volume transit corridors.

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?

Baltimore’s air quality problems are very serious – and our most distressed communities bear the brunt of the pollution and the public health problems it causes. Our rates of hospitalization for asthma are about 2.3 times the state’s rate, and asthma and other pollution-related woes are concentrated in high-poverty parts of our city. Two major sources of that pollution are our dirty forms of energy generation and the excess vehicle traffic that congests and pollutes our streets. We can ease that pollution by eliminating dirty forms of energy and by improving public transit and cycling options that will help take cars off our streets and increase use of public transportation, bicycling, and walking.

To cut the pollution caused by cars and vehicle emissions we need to take strong steps to make transit cleaner, faster, more reliable and more welcoming to people across the city. This includes increasing clean bus transportation and incentives to increase ridership. We can speed up bus travel by adding more dedicated bus lanes to our city’s bus network and using signal priority for buses and light rail where possible, would expedite the movement of buses throughout the city, cut commute times, and make local public transportation reliable. The slowness and limited reliability of the city’s bus network today often makes it difficult and time-consuming for residents to access job and economic centers and arrive at work and school on time consistently.

We can also diminish congestion and pollution by investing in modern, complete streetscapes that prioritize public transit, walking, and bicycling over the personal automobile. Existing proposals and plans need to be implemented fully and expanded to bring these developments to more neighborhoods and to high volume transit corridors.

I would also propose changing parking policies to encourage transit use and diminish congestion by offering tax credits to employers to encourage them to offer transit passes to their employees instead of free parking. Encouraging employers to subsidize transit rather than parking will mean fewer cars and fewer drivers seeking parking on our downtown streets. That will work to ease congestion, improve mobility, and reduce pollution from vehicle emissions.

Do you walk for transportation? If so, for what purposes, how often, and what was your last trip walking?
I occasionally walk to amenities within a mile of my house, including the grocery store, hardware store, and to the Waverly farmers market on Saturdays. One of my favorite pastimes is to walk around Lake Montebello or on one of our beautiful city trails.

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

I rarely use public transportation in and around Baltimore, and I wish we had a stronger system that would enable me to use it more regularly. I do use the MARC train when I travel to Washington DC. As a State Senator, I am acutely aware of the need for better public transit between Baltimore and Annapolis. I regularly drive to Annapolis, as do my staff members – but I know that a safe, reliable and efficient train or public transit option from Baltimore to Annapolis would save time and money for my staff and for the advocates and citizens who travel to Annapolis to support our work and cut the carbon footprint of our travel significantly. A functional public transit option between Baltimore and Annapolis would also increase the ability of underserved residents to engage their state government representatives.

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

I am primarily a recreational cyclist and enjoy occasionally biking around Lake Montebello, along the Gwynns Falls Trail and other local trails. I have also participated in Bike to Work Day.

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. Walking & devices that aid people with a disability
2. Bicycles & Scooters
3. Public Transportation
4. Ride Hailing Services (Taxi, Uber, Lyft)
5. Personal Automobiles
6. Freight and Delivery
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
Yes, I support removing parking in these situations. By removing parking in these cases we can open up our streets to pedestrians, cyclists and to added greenspace that will create a greener and more welcoming city.

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
Baltimore’s outdated minimum parking requirements for residential and commercial development stand in the way of affordable housing and of building a more walkable and transit-friendly city. In a city where about 30% of residents do NOT have access to a car, maintaining zoning and building codes premised on the idea that everyone drives raises costs for new housing unfairly and impedes transit-oriented development.

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
While I wouldn’t move to impose an immediate mandate, I would support tax credits and other incentives to employers to encourage them to offer transit passes or other support to their employees instead of free parking. Encouraging employers to subsidize transit will mean fewer cars and fewer drivers seeking parking on our downtown streets. That will ease congestion and improve mobility.

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
All new development should be mixed income and mixed use with a focus on not contributing to concentrated poverty.

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
There needs to be public hearings and opportunities for public comment to ensure proper community involvement in the decision making process.

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.

Disagree

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