Greetings!
The Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) is committed to sharing our policy priorities and educating Baltimore residents and businesses on where leading candidates stand on key issues for the upcoming election.
Although the GBC does not endorse candidates for public office, we are committed to inform voters about the upcoming election through our election education outreach campaign, "In Their Words." The campaign highlights leading candidates' responses on policy priorities set forth by the GBC.
In the past several weeks, priorities such as ethical leadership, public safety, and education and workforce have been shared. Earlier this week, we sent the fourth edition of the series, highlighting leading Mayoral candidates' priorities in the area of transportation and mobility. Building, maintaining, and connecting transportation and mobility infrastructure and operations is critical to success and growth of the region's economy and workforce.
Today's edition of "In Their Words" reflects the leading City Council President candidates' positions on transportation and mobility.
We encourage you to continue sharing this important information with your network. You can view all editions of the "In Their Words" campaign by visiting the GBC's
website
.
The primary election in Baltimore takes place on June 2, 2020. The GBC urges all residents to be active in the election and to vote.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at
donaldf@gbc.org
.
Be safe, stay healthy and positive.
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Donald C. Fry
President & CEO
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Policy Priority
Utilize policy, funding, and intergovernmental coordination strategies to enhance Baltimore City’s transportation and mobility infrastructure and operations.
Question:
What is your position on transportation policy and funding in the City? What, if any, policy priorities do you have regarding transportation and mobility?
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• "Developing an innovative transportation plan, the City’s first new transportation plan in 16 years, to begin moving Baltimore toward becoming a multimodal City.
• Updating the City’s Traffic Management Center and Intelligent Transportation Systems to improve the flow of traffic.
• Implementing Transportation Demand Management strategies for tailored approaches to congested streets.
• Finding sustainable, fiscally responsible funding streams to expand Charm City Circulator."
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"As the Vice-Chair of the Transportation Committee of the City Council, I wholeheartedly support increased transit investments in Baltimore because effective public transportation not only improves a region’s economy, but it also improves traffic safety and accessibility of all of our great city to all residents regardless of zip code. In addition to my work on the Council I have been a presenter at conferences sponsored by People for Bikes and Rails to Trails. I am a member of the Leadership Council for Rails to Trails. I am a key contributor to the establishment of the Big Jump Project in West Baltimore. I organized the Druid Park Lake Drive Stakeholders Group to develop recommendations for the reconfiguring of that important thoroughfare. I organized the North Avenue Coalition to bring together key stakeholders to reinvest and reimagine that great historic street. I have and continue to be a frequent collaborator and avid supporter of Graham Coreil-Allen and his Complete Streets Design Effort. The initiative that he is leading is focused on adapting streets for shared use and safe passage among bikers, pedestrians and drivers within the Druid Hill Park area. I worked very closely with Councilman Ryan Dorsey as he advanced the Complete Streets ordinance passed by the City Council. An effort that seeks to create a commuter infrastructure which enables greater access to public transportation, reduces speeding and other dangerous driving practices, and promotes pedestrian/biker/wheelchair riders’ safety. I especially focused on the community outreach efforts that were so critical to the education and acceptance of the Complete Streets concepts. The changes required for implementing a Complete Streets Design throughout our city require a level of financial investment which, given the opportunity to be City Council President, I am committed to making a priority in the city’s annual budget."
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"It is antiquated. Far too many of my constituents have to rely on a bus system that is not on time if the bus shows up at all. Many young professionals prefer cities that have robust transportation options that do not involve the use of a personal car, and many companies are looking to locate in regions that can support their employees’ wishes.
I agree with the GBC’s position that the MTA needs to reduce the backlog of repairs, having a regional transportation model, and most importantly finding ways to fund transit options to where jobs are so that any Baltimore City resident can get to work anywhere in the City."
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"I ride my bike to work almost every day in the warmer months, and regularly take the Silver bus route in colder months. Transportation is a critical issue for me, and for our city. At the policy level, we have too many competing voices within city government, not brought together into a unified vision – which is one of the reasons why no comprehensive transportation plan or vision even exists. But it’s not just the absence of a grand vision. On a day-to-day basis, anyone who drives can see gaps in utility coordination and planning for helping people move around the city. This is a structural problem. There are plenty of hard working people in city government, but they’re siloed off from one another. DOT has a planning department that competes with the Planning Department. DOT has a capital program for streets that struggles to coordinate with DPW’s capital program covering what’s under the streets. To make better use of scarce resources we need to review and reform capital planning and project delivery. For years our transportation plan was the Red Line. 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 (because of its construction impacts on Boston Street, the complaints from Harbor East, etc.). In the late 1960s both D.C. and Baltimore unveiled comprehensive transit plans. D.C. built theirs, while Baltimore built only a fraction of ours. We pay the price for his failure of vision every day – and our poorest residents pay the highest price. D.C. built their system, like almost all other cities, with a regional authority. One of the worst things to happen for Baltimore’s transit system was for it to become a creature of state government. It often feels like our buses and light rail system have no real champion. (When I moved here over a decade ago, I was stunned by how stunned my lawyer co-workers were that I took the old M15 bus down Gay Street.) The only real answer for transportation in Baltimore is a functional transit system, and for that we need a regional authority, designed to build an updated version of a comprehensive transit plan."
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"My vision is of a city where hundreds of thousands of people who depend on public transportation are able to get around reliably, easily and safely. And a city where all the different modes of transportation are well linked through transit hubs and connections. Good public transportation meets lot of needs. These include commuting to and from jobs, as well as to and from our schools and colleges. Public transportation meets other needs as well such as shopping for daily or weekly needs, accessing healthcare, attending cultural and recreational activities and events, visiting with friends and generally getting around and exploring the city. A specific part of this vision would also be a revitalized North Avenue, the east west spine of the city, from one end of its 5 miles length to the other, which could be done most effectively by designing and building a modern streetcar line, similar to the one in Portland, Oregon and several other cities across the US. Other outcomes would be more efficient bus service. Although this is controlled by the state the city can greatly influence policies and strategies working with the state and our legislators. I would support someone in the city Department of Transportation to liaison with the state on bus transit to analyze and make recommendations jointly to better serve our residents."
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