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. This week's edition highlights 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 Mayoral 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.
Sincerely,
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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 are three things you would do to improve transportation and mobility in the City?
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"As Mayor, I created the Charm City Circulator system. I would work to assess this system to find out ways to increase access to key places such as fresh food supermarkets to combat some of the food deserts that are in the city. I would also promote the use of energy efficient modes of transportation such as expanding bike lanes in some areas, and reinstitute 'Operation Orange Cone' which helped to rebuild our roadways which yielded us a record number of miles of repaved roads during my administration."
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"Although the state's MTA operates our transit system, there are several levers that Baltimore has to improve transit. First, I will direct the Department of Transportation to create more bus lanes and explore how to improve east-west transit in the city, including with bus-only streets. Second, I would explore every barrier to mobility to work and schools in the city, including bus fares, schedules and routes. Third, I will make safe pedestrian, bicycling and scooter usage a priority, by creating safe lanes and sidewalks to connect neighborhoods to each other and reduce our reliance on automobiles."
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"As mayor, I am committed to equitably improving transportation and mobility opportunities for all Baltimoreans. Almost half of all Baltimoreans of car driving age do not have exclusive access to a car; moreover car individual car ownership is costly, increases congestion on city streets, requires more public funds to repair over-burdened public infrastructure, and contributes to climate change.
In my administration, my top three priorities to achieve this goal are:
Make transportation infrastructure upgrades through an equity framework, including the full, city-wide implementation of Complete Streets, legislation I proudly co-sponsored
Fully fund and implement the Separated Bike Lane Network and Greenway trail by prioritizing lanes on low stress streets using the Level of Traffic Stress Methodology, these lanes should accommodate both bicycles and scooters, among other modes of non-vehicle transportation options.
Adopt policies for Baltimore City employees that incentivize public transportation and ride-sharing options. These could include a parking cash out for employees offered a subsidized parking pass and the provision of free bus passes to all city employees."
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"I will work with the Governor and devise a plan for some local control over bus service to improve access and timeliness for residents. Transportation is a centerpiece of our development, investment, and improvement. We believe it would be advantageous to incorporate more express bus lines to move people in and around the city quicker.
I will convene a workgroup to examine specifically the necessity and viability of rideshare carpool subsidies to assist lower income residents, while also reducing the amount of vehicular traffic.
I will examine the feasibility of adding a true trolley version of the Charm City Circulator, specifically for the Downtown area. I believe making a more attractive mobility option to circulate around the waterfront, Canton, Harbor East, Fells Point, Inner Harbor, Port Covington, Federal Hill, and Locust Point. The goal is to attract people to using the transportation alternative and move people freely around to business/shopping/entertainment districts to increase foot traffic. A more visually and family-friendly option achieves this. In addition to the examination of this particular route of the Circulator, we will look to expand options further uptown to move people from areas of the city that continue to struggle with transportation needs.
Additionally, my administration will study specific roads and communities for temporary or permanent vehicular restrictions to encourage more pedestrian and bike traffic with 'Open Streets' events. Washington, D.C. has successfully accomplished this and Baltimore can do it as well."
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"First, I would expand circulator lines to include major east-west corridors as well as other arteries that connect Downtown Baltimore to the cities outermost corners (e.g., Harford Rd, Pennsylvania Ave, etc.). Second, we will aggressively pursue the high-speed rail between Baltimore and Washington D.C. Third, we will develop and install a comprehensive pedestrian, bike, and scooter plan, which will begin to address the stubborn last-mile problem."
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"I am actively seeing through the implementation of the Complete Streets Model.
I fulfilled the Bmore Bright program. Through this initiative, two-thirds of the city's streetlights have now been converted to energy efficient LEDs.
Adequate lighting is essential for residents to feel safe in their communities. Over 10,000 streetlights have been upgraded with LEDs, and now two-thirds of the city’s 76,900 streetlights are equipped with LED technology. This initiative not only increases public safety in Baltimore but also our sustainability, as these new lights are energy-efficient and will reduce utility and maintenance costs for the city.
I Passed 'Don't Block the Box' legislation and called on the Department of Transportation to ensure that the traffic lights are properly synchronized to less downtown traffic. We are currently working to enforce this plan.
Soon, I will announce Baltimore City as a Vision Zero City. This is an initiative to get pedestrian and traffic deaths down to zero, while increasing safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all."
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