Take Action: Street Cuts Policy Update

A closure of the protected bike lane on Cathedral Street that is no longer legal under the Complete Streets Ordinance.

Baltimore City Department of Transportation is currently updating their Street Cuts Policy. You may not know what exactly that means, but there is a 100% chance you’ve been affected if you walk, bike, take transit, or drive in Baltimore City.

The Street Cuts Policy governs utility work on our roadways, bike lanes, and sidewalks. Prior to the Baltimore Complete Streets ordinance, it was common to see closures like the one in the image above— closures that prioritized keeping the road open for car travel and parking, even if it meant closing a bike lane or sidewalk.

The Complete Streets ordinance changed that, requiring detours to follow the modal hierarchy that puts pedestrians and bicyclists first. We’ve seen successful implementations of the ordinance on Aliceanna Street just before Boston Street or on Charles Street by 33rd Street, where construction is ongoing but safe pedestrian and bicycle access has been maintained.

While these projects are a start, Baltimore City Department of Transportation still needs to update their official guidance to reflect the Complete Streets Ordinance. This will ensure that future projects led by both the city and contractors will also comply with the Complete Streets law — that’s why we need to update the Streets Cut Policy. 

We have reviewed the draft of the new policy, and we would like it to include more specific guidance for maintaining access to sidewalks and bike lanes during construction, more aggressive timelines for restoring and repaving streets after work is finished, and to make sure crossings and traffic calming we stripe on that restored street is even better than what was there before and restores any community funded art that may have been damaged or removed.

Our sample language for recommendations is below, and we encourage you edit as you see fit and submit comment before February 22nd.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comment on the Draft Street Cuts Policy.

1. This is an opportunity to not only see street restorations, but street improvements. Whenever a complete streets treatment/vision zero treatment like a crosswalk or curb extension is affected, the entire treatment should be fully restored and if possible, enhanced. For example, a standard crosswalk should be restriped fully as a continental crosswalk, even if only a partial section of crosswalk was cut.

2. Art in the ROW and all other decorative treatments that enhance an intersection or street need to be replaced/restored in-kind.

3. Same side detours must be required for sidewalk or bicycle lane closures. This should only be allowed to be overruled by a written exemption and explanation from the Director.

4. When same side detours are in place, they should meet or exceed the level of separation provided previously. For example, separated bike lane detour shall continue to be separated by a vertical element like flex posts, or water or jersey barrier. There should be minimum widths of 5 feet or greater for a one-way bike detour and 8 feet or greater for a two-way bike detour, just as there are minimum widths for sidewalk detours.

5. When a written exemption for a same side detour is made by the Director, the approved detour shall meet or exceed the level of comfort for the detoured facility. For example, a separated bike lane detour must include separation on the entire detour, it can't just be signage to use an adjacent street non-separated bike lane.

6. The 120 day period for full restoration is too long. This needs to be substantially reduced, to 60 days or less.

7. Fines should be dramatically increased, and escalate significantly for continued violation by contractors. This revenue will be needed to hire more inspectors.

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.

What does a parking cashout mean for Baltimore?

Written by Patrick Reid, UMBC student and Bikemore Intern

The Baltimore City Council passed an important new bill in March that could change how some city government employees commute. The new bill aims to study something known as a parking cashout.

Parking cashouts are an incredibly effective way to increase the use of alternative modes of commuting to work. Basically, parking cashouts give employees the cost of a dedicated parking spot as cash, allowing them to use the money to pay for alternative modes of transportation. Free parking at work is often an included employee benefit; this takes the value of parking to create incentive for using other modes of transportation. 

Enticing local business leaders to support sustainable initiative can sometimes seem like a daunting task, especially when many have their profit margins to consider. But a cashout program is a win-win situation. Employees receive a cash benefit,  and employers can save costs and even receive a tax credit. A study by the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) illustrates how these savings work in an example below. 

The table shows just how beneficial the parking cash out program would be for businesses who are looking to not only support sustainability and increase transit usage but also just cut down on their costs. By using the tax credit and maximizing the amount of money given to the employees who opt into the program the employer saves $7,500 while the employee makes an extra $50 a month or $600 over a year. 

The program is economically sound, but would it actually contribute to an increased use of alternative modes of commuting like bikes or transit?

According to a study in Washington D.C., it absolutely would. Looking at a sample of 987 Washington commuters who were faced with the prospect of not receiving free parking at their place of work, we see clearly some potential changes in behavior. For these commuters the options of biking or walking increased 15% while public transit usage increased by 31%. The number of commuters saying that they would get to work by “car alone” would fall by a staggering 50% to less than a quarter of surveyed commuters choosing to commute by car if the parking was not free!

What these numbers look like in practice is a cleaner, more connected city that can shift focus away from cars and instead on new modes of transportation like bikes and public transit. It means a more environmentally sustainable future and many more options for commuting. The Washington-based survey data in addition to the economic report from MDOT show the feasibility of a parking cash out program for all stakeholders involved.

While the current proposal only looks at the city government, a broader rollout of a cash out program could really make a big difference in Baltimore. What the city needs are bold new ideas and the courage to pursue them. This program could have a really meaningful impact if it was rolled out to more industries throughout Baltimore. We have the chance to transform the way that Baltimoreans commute, to make it environmentally conscious, safer and even put a little extra money into each paycheck in the process. 

Dockless Vehicle 2020 Update

Bikemore has supported the City’s Dockless Vehicle Program permit for e-scooters and bikes since before the pilot launched in 2018, writing the white paper that served as the basis for the pilot and supporting legislation to make the program permanent. 

While this year’s permit cycle was meant to end in August 2020, it has been on hold due to Maryland’s State of Emergency. So how has the scooter program been doing during pandemic times? 

Here are the highlights from the Department of Transportation’s latest update:

• Vehicle trips in 2020 decreased 55.6% from 2019. We also saw a shift from weekday rush-hour commute trips to midday/weekend usage. 

• Trips around the Inner Harbor, downtown, and at college/university campuses dropped significantly, while trips around parks and along transit corridors increased. 

• DOT used Dockless Vehicle Permit funds to perform an audit on bike facilities and completed work orders to replace 100 flex posts, convert two storm drains to be bicycle/scooter friendly, and added green paint to improve visibility at intersections.

• DOT is currently working on installing over twenty bike/scooter parking corrals around the city, prioritizing transit connections, reducing vandalism, and equity zones.

• After the State of Emergency is lifted, DOT will release an updated Rules and Regulations for the Dockless Vehicle permit for public comment before vendor applications open.

• Currently, SPIN and Lime are the only two dockless vehicle vendors in the city after Lime acquired JUMP and Bolt failed to meet permit requirements.

• Lime has re-launched JUMP bikes in the city, but the fleet is still quite small.

Also, Lime chose Bikemore as their “Lime Hero” partner back in September 2020! Riders can round up their rides to make a small donation to Bikemore and have the opportunity to learn about our work through the app.

Read the full memo from DOT here.