Author: Elena Sorokina
RELEASE: A New Plan for Transit’s Future in Baltimore
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2020
Contact:
Brian O’Malley
bomalley@cmtalliance.org
(410) 419-5374
As COVID-19 Proves the Vital Importance of Public Transit,
A New Plan for Transit’s Future is Open for Comment In Metropolitan Baltimore
Advocates Encourage Riders and Employers to Weigh In on
Draft Central Maryland Regional Transit Plan by June 18th
Baltimore, MD – As the COVID-19 crisis shines a light on the vital importance of public transit service in the Baltimore region, a newly released regional transit plan provides an historic opportunity to make much needed improvements that have long been identified by riders, advocates, employers, and other regional stakeholders. The draft plan advances the process of building consensus around a bold vision for Baltimore’s transit system and advocates are preparing public comments to strengthen it further.
The Central Maryland Regional Transit Plan is the first comprehensive transit plan for the region in a generation. Advocates are pushing for a plan that provides meaningful changes in people’s lives and hope to see implementation of a strong plan begin as early as this fall, starting with feasibility studies planned by MTA and BMC for several priority transit corridors. Implementing a well-designed plan will mean better connections to jobs, medical care, and other essential destinations, as well as improving Baltimore’s poor air quality that contributes to respiratory illness, and climate change emissions.
Developed by the MTA in consultation with regional stakeholders, the plan lays out a 25-year vision for improving the system. It includes objectives, goals, and initiatives, such as increasing systemwide on-time performance to 85%, electrifying the vehicle fleet, and identifies 30 specific regional transit corridors where upgrades ranging from bus service to heavy rail subway could one day be made.
“We’ve seen in the DC region how important our extensive, well-funded rail and bus transit network has been for access to jobs and the region’s economic success. The Baltimore region and State of Maryland need to make a similar commitment,” said Jane Lyons with the Coalition for Smarter Growth.
“It’s great that we will soon have a plan. It is important that Federal stimulus funds for responding to and recovering from the COVID-19 crisis are used for strategic improvements of our lacking infrastructure. They could be applied to some of the strategies and projects in the Plan. It’s important to have a vision,” said Klaus Philipsen of ArchPlan Inc.
Transit agencies across the country are scrambling to keep riders and operators safe while providing essential trips to hospitals, grocery stores, and other destinations. The draft plan includes a strategy to use transit to “respond and recover from emergencies (security threats and natural disasters)” which advocates say must be elevated and fleshed out as a priority.
“The coronavirus pandemic has drawn into focus the vital role that public transportation plays in greater Baltimore. While some parts of the country have seen transit ridership fall by 90 percent or more, the ridership on MTA’s core service is only down 50 or 60 percent. That’s partly because nearly 4 in 10 transit riders in Baltimore are essential workers in sectors like healthcare, grocery stores and food distribution,” said Brian O’Malley of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance.
“The pandemic has exacerbated challenges faced by the region’s most distressed neighborhoods,” said Tafadzwa Gwitira with Tele Farm. “A third of Baltimore households lack access to a car, but in some neighborhoods more than half do. Many people rely on the bus, train, or paratransit to get to the grocery store, or to medical appointments.”
“The vehicles we drive on our roads pollute the air we breathe, particularly in communities of color and other marginalized communities. Health experts warn that this particulate matter pollution can exacerbate the severity of respiratory diseases like COVID 19. We must heavily invest in transit to give us more healthy choices to move around so that we can protect public health and combat climate change.”- Josh Tulkin of the Maryland Sierra Club.
“Advocates are currently digesting the plan and hope that it can deliver a more reliable, accessible system for all,” said Jimmy Rouse of Transit Choices.“The Central Maryland region currently lacks a plan for the future of public transportation. As a result we are in a weak position to compete for private investment, state investment and federal investment. The sooner we can produce a plan the stronger position we will be in to bring resources for economic recovery here.”
The draft plan, titled ‘Connecting Our Future, a Regional Transit Plan for Central Maryland’ is available for public comment until June 18th. The MTA has set up a project web site, https://rtp.mta.maryland.gov/,that allows for online commenting and plans to announce virtual office hours when MTA staff will be available to answer questions. A final version of the plan will be published in October of 2020. Advocates say the plan is more urgent now than ever.
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Other contacts:
Josh Tulkin, Director, Maryland Sierra Club, josh.tulkin@mdsierra.org
Tafadzwa Gwitira, Founder and farmer, Tele Farm, taffy@telefarm.org
Klaus Philipsen, President, ArchPlan Inc., (410)493-6239
Brian O’Malley, President & CEO, Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, (410)419-5374
Henry W. Bogdan, Director of Public Policy, Maryland Nonprofits, (443)438-2318
Jane Lyons, Maryland Advocacy Manager, Coalition for Smarter Growth, jane@smartergrowth.net
Jimmy Rouse, Co-Founder, Transit Choices, jimmy123rouse@gmail.com
CSG Comments on Montgomery’s Resolution to Approve FY21 Transportation Fees, Charges, and Fares
Resolution to Approve FY21 Transportation Fees, Charges, and Fares
Testimony for April 30, 2020
Jane Lyons, Maryland Advocacy Manager
President Katz and Councilmembers, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on the Resolution to Approve FY21 Transportation Fees, Charges, and Fares. Please accept these comments on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the leading organization in the D.C. region advocating for walkable, inclusive, transit-oriented communities.
Firstly, we would like to thank the county for suspending Ride On fares thus far during the novel coronavirus crisis. This action has protected transit workers and riders. Transit continues to be an essential public service right now, ensuring that our front-line workers are able to get to work and that those without private vehicles are still able to get food, prescriptions, and other necessary goods.
Therefore, we urge the county to continue Ride On fare suspension throughout the duration of the public health emergency. Fare revenue this quarter is already nearly half of the budgeted fare revenue, and even under normal circumstances is less than 10 percent of total revenue in the Mass Transit Fund.
We also urge you to begin thinking about transit after COVID-19. There is an opportunity to “reopen” the county’s transportation network in a way that increases our climate resiliency, furthers racial and socioeconomic justice, and aids in our economic recovery. These functions cannot be achieved without transit. We don’t have to go back to the same congestion, dangerous roadways, and air pollution.
Further, once the immediate public health threat has been addressed, we will need to rebuild trust in public transit so that ridership may recover. To do that, transit must be attractive, easy, frequent, and safe. We urge you to consider:
- Suspending Ride On fares in perpetuity;
- Redesigning the Montgomery Ride On and WMATA bus network through a public process to improve service in a budget neutral way;
- Expanding public employees’ telework allowances;
- Rebalancing road space to prioritize walking, biking, and transit; and
- Increasing routine bus cleaning.
Thank you for your consideration.
RELEASE: CSG Joins National Alliance to Tell White House: Transit Workers Need Better Protection from COVID-19
Press Release
For immediate release
April 23, 2020
Contact: Stewart Schwartz
703-599-6437 (cell)
stewart@smartergrowth.net
Coalition for Smarter Growth Joins National Alliance To Tell White House:
Transit Workers Need Better Protection From COVID-19
Coalition for Smarter Growth and broad alliance of labor, business, and community advocates demand White House and CDC supply better protective equipment and guidance to safeguard the transit workforce who ensure other essential workers can provide medical care, food, and basic necessities.
Today, the Coalition for Smarter Growth joined dozens of unions, business groups, economic justice organizations, and local transit advocates from across the nation requesting Vice President Mike Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, strengthen federal coordination to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for transit workers.
The Coalition for Smarter Growth also joined many other organizations in signing onto the NAACP’s letter urging Congress to pass relief funding and required hazard pay for transit workers.
As of this week, the coronavirus has claimed the lives of nearly 100 transit workers in the United States and 15 WMATA employees have tested positive as of April 6th.
The federal government can and must take stronger steps to prevent such loss of life.
Bus and train operators, maintenance workers, and cleaning staff at transit agencies in the DC region are putting their lives on the line as they enable essential travel and ensure the continued provision of food, medical care, and other basic goods and services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without strong federal coordination to procure PPE for transit workers, they face needless risks on the job.
Based on guidance from infectious disease experts, the Coalition for Smarter Growth demands consistent provision of N95 masks and other protective gear for frontline transit workers whose duties put them in close proximity to passengers, or require exposure to hazardous disinfectants. The Coalition for Smarter Growth also urges the CDC to issue stronger guidance for WMATA and other transit agencies, including recommendations on how to ventilate transit vehicles to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
These measures must be put in place to protect the transit workforce, which in turn will strengthen the overall effort to control the pandemic and minimize the spread of COVID-19. Nearly 3 million Americans classified as essential workers typically commute on transit, according to a TransitCenter analysis of U.S. Census data.
Protective gear for transit workers will have a strong multiplier effect, since reducing risk will increase the availability of the transit workforce, leading to greater provision of transit service, less crowding on transit vehicles, and lower rates of transmission among transit riders and thus the general population.
The alliance signing on to the letter reflects the broad public interest in protecting transit workers, encompassing labor, business, transportation, economic justice, environmental, and community-based organizations from dozens of states.
Supply chain issues affect every industry seeking protective gear. However, the need for transit workers is so urgent, and the consequences of further delay so dire, that federal action must be pursued as soon as possible. These protections will save the lives of transit workers, as well as the lives of nurses, doctors, food distribution workers, and other essential workers who rely on transit.
The full letters from TransitCenter and the NAACP are linked.
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RELEASE: Broad Alliance Tells White House: Transit Workers Need Better Protection From COVID-19
For immediate release
April 22, 2020
Ben Fried, TransitCenter: 347 675-5592
David Roscow, ATU: 202 487-4990
Dozens of unions, business groups, economic justice organizations, and local transit advocates from across the nation wrote today to Vice President Mike Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, demanding better federal coordination to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for transit workers.
As of this week, the coronavirus has claimed the lives of nearly 100 transit workers in the United States.
The victims include Scott Ryan, 41, a bus operator at Community Transit in Snohomish County, Washington; Patrick Patoir, 57, an MTA worker in New York for 33 years; Jason Hargrove, 50, a Detroit bus operator; Eugenia Weathers, a school bus driver in Lexington, Kentucky; and Michael Hill, a conductor and 30-year SEPTA veteran in Philadelphia.
The federal government can and must take stronger steps to prevent such loss of life.
Bus and train operators, maintenance workers, and cleaning staff at transit agencies around the country are putting their lives on the line as they enable essential travel for millions of Americans, ensuring the continued provision of food, medical care, and other basic goods and services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Without strong federal coordination to procure PPE for transit workers, they face needless risks on the job.
Based on guidance from infectious disease experts, the organizations demand the White House coordinate provision of N95 masks and other protective gear for frontline transit workers whose duties put them in close proximity to passengers, or require exposure to hazardous disinfectants. The groups also urge the CDC to issue stronger guidance for transit agencies, including recommendations on how to ventilate transit vehicles to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
These measures must be put in place to protect the transit workforce, which in turn will strengthen the overall effort to control the pandemic and minimize the spread of COVID-19. Nearly 3 million Americans classified as essential workers typically commute on transit, according to a TransitCenter analysis of U.S. Census data.
Protective gear for transit workers will have a strong multiplier effect, since reducing risk will increase the availability of the transit workforce, leading to greater provision of transit service, less crowding on transit vehicles, and lower rates of transmission among transit riders and thus the general population.
The alliance signing on to the letter reflects the broad public interest in protecting transit workers, encompassing labor, business, transportation, economic justice, environmental, and community-based organizations from dozens of states.
Supply chain issues affect every industry seeking protective gear. However, the need for transit workers is so urgent, and the consequences of further delay so dire, that federal action must be pursued as soon as possible. These protections will save the lives of transit workers, as well as the lives of nurses, doctors, food distribution workers, and other essential workers who rely on transit.
“Transit workers deserve every protection the government can muster,” said TransitCenter Executive Director David Bragdon. “Better coordination and provision of equipment will protect the health of hundreds of thousands of transit workers, and keep millions of other workers safe on their way to essential jobs.”
“More than 300 of the transit agencies where our members work have failed to implement critical changes needed to keep their workers and riders safe, even as a second wave of this deadly virus sweeps across the continent,” said ATU International President John Costa. “We are proud to carry emergency service, healthcare, grocery, and retail workers, and those who need care. But, as ATU International President, I cannot in good conscience encourage my members to go into the line of fire without the armor and provisions they need.”