Narrative Questions
Describe your vision of a healthy, safe, equitable transportation system for the Baltimore Region and the roles walking, biking, and public transportation play in that vision.
Maryland has amazing economic, educational, natural, and cultural assets, but our transportation system needs to better connect our citizens to jobs, schools, parks, and other amenities in our communities. As a result, we have not lived up to our economic potential, and we continue to lag in implementing sound policies to protect our environment and enhance our communities. My administration will build an efficient and equitable transportation system that unharnesses economic growth in our region, drives billions in new investment, protects our environment and our neighbors, and connects people with employers.
The advantages and benefits that bike lanes and walking paths bring to safety, health, and quality of life are unquestionable. Yet, they are often an afterthought in our planning. As we explain in our comprehensive transportation plan, our administration will take several steps to plan and build in a way that makes sense; and as our transportation infrastructure is updated and improved, we need to make sure that we take advantage of that construction to update contiguous infrastructure, including bike and pedestrian infrastructure. Additionally, our administration will work to create “15-minute neighborhoods” where residents can access the amenities they need, all within walking distance. Salt Lake City was a classic case of dense and mixed downtown that then sprawled out in every direction across the valley with neighborhoods of single-family homes. Envision Utah changed that by strategically rezoning cross streets across the valley to create new mini mixed-use main streets and town squares in residential neighborhoods. This creates 15-minute neighborhoods so folks can walk to shop, eat, and work in their own neighborhoods. Our administration will see what lessons we can take from this and other examples to create walkable micro-neighborhoods to reduce congestion and provide people with safer access to the services and amenities they want.
The fastest and most economical way to address climate change, improve public health, and create equal access to opportunity is to reduce dependence on private automobiles. What are the biggest barriers to getting people to choose walking, biking, and public transit instead of personal vehicles for daily trips, and what would you do to address these impediments?
The biggest barrier is that, quite often, there isn’t a choice. Past transportation planning has made biking, walking, and public transportation unavailable to most people - particularly people who would most benefit from better infrastructure.
Our administration will ensure that our efforts to improve Maryland’s transportation infrastructure focuses on the people who rely on it the most. Low-income communities and communities of color are less likely to own vehicles and are more likely to rely on public transit, yet they often have the fewest bike lanes. Moreover, a simple map search will show you that it takes a person an hour and 13 minutes to travel the 14 miles from the Druid Hill neighborhood of West Baltimore to BWI Marshall Airport using public transportation. It would take that same person over an hour to travel the six miles needed to get to the Under Armour Headquarters on Hull Street. This example and others like it across the state are unacceptable. It makes it nearly impossible for someone without a car to find and keep a good job, and it hinders the ability of our businesses to attract and retain employees. Our administration will supplement the $1.7 billion in federal infrastructure money to ensure that our bus transit system is reliable and gets people to work and school on time. Mass transit systems improvements will include updating commuter rail stations and other transportation services in historically neglected communities to provide people with affordable access to employment and improve their quality of life.
Maryland and its jurisdictions continue to spend money on road and highway widening despite overwhelming evidence that it actually increases traffic and congestion through induced demand. Justification for widening is often that it will improve road safety, which is also discredited. What is your position on Maryland and its jurisdictions spending money this way, and would you support a moratorium on road and highway widening?
Maryland needs to take a holistic approach to infrastructure planning, and our administration will provide Marylanders with more commuting choices, including more bike lanes, better investment in rail and transit, supporting transit-oriented communities, and encouraging work-from-home.
Equitable, transit-oriented transportation projects are a high priority for me, and our administration will take a comprehensive approach to transportation planning, including the use of bike lanes, to meet the needs of all Marylanders. As governor, I will ensure that we are building 21st-century infrastructure that provides equity both in terms of access and its construction, environmental protections, and strong input from the communities.
Describe your understanding for the need of a Baltimore Regional Transportation Authority. Do you support creation of a regional authority, and if so, how would you legislate or guide the state’s role in creating and sustaining it?
Regional transportation authorities can be impactful, and we are open to a Baltimore Regional Transportation Authority as long as it focuses on achieving the broader goals of connecting all our state’s assets. It is vital to create transportation infrastructure that ensures mass transit focuses on the people who rely on it the most, dedicate the resources needed to ensure that our bus transit system is reliable and gets people to work and school on time, and improve Baltimore’s mass transit system, including building commuter rail stations in West Baltimore, Bayview, and other historically neglected communities to provide people with access to employment.
Since the 1990’s federal surface transportation authorization laws have set the rules and formulas for federal transportation funding flowing to states. Two of the largest categories, the Surface Transportation Block Grant program and the National Highway Performance Program, can be used for many forms of surface transportation including highways, transit, bike, pedestrian, and ADA infrastructure. However, state departments of transportation, MDOT included, have used them almost exclusively for highway projects and much of its new capacity. That has resulted in growth in traffic volumes, travel times, and carbon pollution. In your view, why have those trends continued?
The way projects have been prioritized and selected is outdated and must be updated to ensure we are meeting our transportation, equity, and climate goals. My comprehensive plan for transportation focuses on all transportation solutions, which is the only way we are going to address these issues - roads are just one tool in our toolbox. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to utilize the $4.1 billion in federal highway aid and the $409 million in bridge repair allocated for Maryland to make real and lasting improvements to our infrastructure. Our administration will supplement the bipartisan infrastructure bill funds to expedite essential transit construction, including much-needed rail projects like the Purple Line and a fully built Red Line, ensuring it is connected to other modes of transit as well, including bike lanes, busses, and more.
How do you typically commute to work or run errands? Describe the last trips you made by walking, biking, and public transit.
As a candidate for governor, campaigning takes me all around the state, so I usually drive. My last time using public transit was my recent trip from Druid Hill to South Baltimore, where I was able to experience firsthand the challenges Marylanders face in their everyday commutes. I also recently visited the community revitalization efforts around Mondawmin Mall in West Baltimore, and I understand how vital transit such as the Mondawmin Metro stop is to building strong communities. As governor, I’m committed to leveraging the billions in federal infrastructure dollars flowing into the state to ensure our public transportation system fully connects all of our assets and creates new opportunities for every Maryland family.
Agree/Disagree Questions
Maryland and its jurisdictions should be required to “fix-it-first,” funding deferred maintenance of bridges and roads and safety retrofits like road diets, sidewalks, ADA compliance, and other infrastructure prioritizing vulnerable road users before spending on new roads and infrastructure.
The Maryland Transit Administration is currently facing a $2 billion maintenance backlog and needs nearly half a billion dollars just to meet basic safety requirements. Thankfully, as a result of the billions in federal infrastructure dollars coming to Maryland, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to ensure safe and reliable transportation here in Maryland while making the structural improvements needed to bring generational opportunities to our state, such as building the Red Line. As governor, I will ensure we swiftly address outdated and crumbling infrastructure while also making essential investments for the future.
Maryland should adopt a funding rubric for all transportation investment that follows a modal hierarchy prioritizing pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders over personal automobile use, and mandates that these investments prioritize racial and economic equity.
We need to take the politics out of transportation, and our transportation plan outlines how we will promote equity in transportation funding. Part of this process must ensure transit, bike lanes, and pedestrian improvements are prioritized.
Highway User Revenues continue to decrease as cars become more efficient, and semi-autonomous driving technology is allowing more comfortable long distance commutes. To address this, Maryland should introduce an income-based Vehicle Miles Traveled tax.
Moving forward, we must prioritize the transition to electric vehicles while ensuring we have the necessary transportation funding to build a more equitable transportation system in Maryland. I look forward to working with transportation leaders, my running mate Aruna Miller who served as a transportation engineer for 25 years, and others as our state moves towards transitioning to electric vehicles.
Maryland should require and fund all-ages-and abilities bicycle infrastructure in retrofits of existing roads and construction of new roads, including fully separated infrastructure or side paths/trails on collector roads, arterial roads, state highways, and interstates.
Our comprehensive transportation plan demonstrates our commitment to expanding bicycle infrastructure, including efforts to include them in road improvement and new construction.
There has been a dramatic increase in car crashes that injure and kill people walking and biking, who are then frequently sued by a driver’s insurance. Maryland should move from contributory negligence to a strict liability model for crashes involving vulnerable road users.
I believe we need to move to a model that will protect bikers and ensure that people who injure someone while driving recklessly on our roads can be held accountable.
Paired with a requirement for income-based fines, Maryland should authorize jurisdictions to utilize additional types of automated enforcement like bus lane cameras and stop sign cameras, remove geographic restrictions, and allow a reduced threshold for triggering speed cameras.
I am committed to ensuring that every Marylander has the right and expectation to travel safely, regardless of mode, while balancing legitimate privacy concerns and ensuring it does not disproportionately impact communities of color. Too many families are experiencing the loss of a family member while driving, walking, or biking along our roadways. Even a single death is one too many. In the last three years, there have been over 500 fatalities per year on Maryland roadways. Prince George’s County had the highest number of fatalities in 2021 with 119, and Baltimore City had the second-highest at 68. The county with the least fatalities was Dorchester, with two. Greater focus and resources need to be placed in the jurisdictions with the highest number of fatalities, and we must continue to further reduce the fatalities in the counties with lower fatality rates. Our administration will provide the training and resources needed to help our local communities implement the Vision Zero strategy to greatly reduce traffic fatalities.
Maryland should allow local jurisdictions to lower their own speed limits based on roadway typology instead of based on expensive engineering studies for each road segment, and should set a statewide upper urban speed limit of 25 miles per hour.
Ensuring that every Marylander has the right and expectation to travel safely, regardless of mode, will be a key priority for my administration. As governor, I will always work in partnership with our communities to ensure their residents’ safety.
Maryland should require employers provide “Parking Cash Out,” valuing the cost of parking subsidized or paid for by employers and allowing employees the option of taking that benefit as a cash payout in the amount of the parking subsidy instead.
A Moore-Miller administration will work with Maryland’s business community to encourage employees to utilize other forms of transportation. Biking to work has been shown to have significant benefits to both workers and employers, but we need to create the infrastructure and planning these commuters need.
As we explain in our detailed transportation plan, our administration will take several steps to plan and build in a way that makes sense; and as our transportation infrastructure is updated and improved, we need to make sure that we take advantage of that construction to update contiguous infrastructure, including bike and pedestrian infrastructure. Additionally, our administration will work to create “15-minute neighborhoods” where residents can access the amenities they need, all within walking distance. Salt Lake City was a classic case of dense and mixed downtown that then sprawled out in every direction across the valley with neighborhoods of single-family homes. Envision Utah changed that by strategically rezoning cross streets across the valley to create new mini mixed-use main streets and town squares in residential neighborhoods. This creates 15-minute neighborhoods so folks can walk to shop, eat, and work in their own neighborhoods. Our administration will see what lessons we can take from this, and other examples, to create walkable micro-neighborhoods to reduce congestion and provide people with safer access to the services and amenities they want.
Maryland should require jurisdictions to eliminate parking minimums and institute parking maximums in new development, as well as require the cost of parking be unbundled from rent, giving individuals the choice to rent without paying for parking.
It is unacceptable for Marylanders to be paying more than 20% of their income towards rent. Yet, with the average Marylander making $3,510 and paying $1,392 every month in rent, the average person is paying almost 40% of their income. We must focus on producing more affordable housing, preserving existing affordable housing units, and protecting renters. As governor, our administration is going to expand Maryland’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and create a dedicated source of revenue for organizations to build and maintain affordable housing units. But more broadly, we must continue to expand opportunities for work, wages, and wealth for every family in Maryland, with a commitment to equity, to address underlying affordability issues.
It’s widely accepted that single family zoning advances racial and economic segregation. Maryland should ban single family zoning at the state level, allowing both single family and multifamily residences to be built in all zoning areas.
While we should encourage multifamily zoning, and there are instances, like when state funds are used for transit-oriented communities, where it can be mandated, we do not support taking zoning authority away from local government.