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STATE OF MARYLAND

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

MARYLAND TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION

BaltimoreLink Public Hearing

Enoch Pratt Free Library

1531 W. North Ave

Baltimore, Maryland 21225

January 11, 2017

PAT KELLER, Hearing Officer

LAURA GETTY, Hearing Secretary

Proceedings recorded by electronic sound recording; transcript produced by Free State Reporting, Inc.

FREE STATE REPORTING, INC.

Court Reporting Transcription

D.C. Area 301-261-1902

4

I N D E X

Page

Opening remarks by Pat Keller 3

Rules and procedures by Laura Getty 4

Speakers:

Michael Karr 7

Grace Lambert 10

Brenda Scott 12

Cheryl Simpson 14

Khary Lemon 17

Tomeaka Mack 20

Greer Shorter 23

Marvin Williams 27


P R O C E E D I N G S

MR. KELLER: Good evening, everybody. Let the record show that it is now 6:00 p.m. on the

11th of January, 2017. This public meeting will be called to order and be conducted by the Maryland Transit Administration, as required by Title 7 of the Maryland Transportation Article. The Maryland Transit Administration, also known as MTA, is a transportation business unit of the Maryland Department of Transportation.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Pat Keller. I work with the MTA, and I am serving as the hearing officer this evening. With me is also hearing secretary, Laura Getty, also an MTA employee.

I welcome you to the public hearing and thank you for taking the time to attend. If you have not already done so, please silence your cell phones.

The purpose of this hearing is to accept testimony pertaining to the Maryland Department of Transportation's Maryland Transit Administration's proposed service changes for the next phase of implementation of the BaltimoreLink transit network redesign. The proposed changes would be effective on or about Sunday, June 18, 2017. Full details of the proposed changes are presented in a two-volume document available at the registration table, and I see that you have received those. That's good.

The role of the hearing officer and secretary is strictly to take testimony. We are unable to answer questions while this hearing is in progress. And that's why I suggested the other room. If you go across to the other room, you get all your questions answered and addressed. Please address any questions you may have to the MTA representatives just in the other room.

The Maryland Transit Administration is committed to ensuring that no individual is excluded from participation in or denied the benefits of its transit services and programs.

Ms. Laura Getty will now state the rules and procedures for this hearing.

MS. GETTY: Good evening. The procedures for this hearing are as follows:

1. Individuals desiring to testify should register in the lobby.

2. Speakers are required to provide their name and address. If representing a group, its name and address should also be provided.

3. For this hearing, all statements should be directed to the hearing officer, and must be related to the subject matter of the hearing as outlined in the proposal.

4. Questions should be addressed to MTA representatives outside of this room. The hearing officer cannot respond to questions while the hearing is in progress.

5. Speakers are required to limit their statements to three minutes.

6. These proceedings are recorded by a court stenographer.

7. Prepared statements or literature pertaining to the subject of the proposal may be submitted to the hearing officer or to the MTA Office of Customer and Community Relations. For those who prefer to submit comments in writing rather than verbally, comment forms are available at the registration table. MTA staff is available to offer assistance. Comment forms can also be downloaded by visiting baltimorelink.com. Written statements may be submitted for the hearing record by submitting to the MTA staff at the registration table, mailing to the address listed on the comment form, or emailing comments to with, written testimony, as the subject heading. All testimony received by the February 21, 2017 deadline will be considered before the proposals are finalized.

MR. KELLER: Do we have to read these?

As required by law, I'm going to just read you where these meetings were advertised and in what papers, because we're required by law to do that.

Notices of the hearing, this hearing, were published in 2016 are as follows: December 5 and 12, the Baltimore Sun; December 27, The Jeffersonian; December 28, the Towson Times; December 29, The Dundalk Eagle and the East County Times; December 30, Sun's Weekend and El Tiempo Latino.

In 2017, notices were published January 4 in the City Paper; January 6 in Afro-American, the Sun's Weekend, The Baltimore Times, and the Jewish Times; January 9, the Baltimore Sun; January 11, the Catonsville Times and the Arbutus Times.

As Laura mentioned, we have three minutes allocated to speak. Because of the number of speakers, which, we don't have a lot, we can give you some more time if you need, if you need some extra time to speak. So, we will start with the public hearing.

I notice there aren't any public officials here. We generally ask them, if they want to speak, they can go first; but we'll just start in with the folks that have signed up.

So, our first speaker tonight presenting testimony will be Michael Karr.

MR. KARR: All I want to know is, I know the 97's going to start running down here near Monte Verde, but I heard we're supposed to be getting like the number 82. But I ain't look at that part of the route of the number 82 yet, because I know I've got some people who are on my floor who's going to wait for the 97, and the 97, after that, February the 21st, the 97 won't be running. But the number 82, some people will be waiting on that: people's who's in wheelchairs, people who's sick, and people who always want to wait on the bus. But sometimes, we have a hard time walking up the hill at Violet Avenue, and we walks up the hill sometimes to catch that number 54, and then, sometimes, I do get tired out sometimes. But the number 97 shuttle do take its time getting down here.

And then, after that, when you try to talk to some of these drivers, some of these driver's, they is mean, and some of them is evil. And some of them don't know how to talk to you the nice, normal way. And then, you try to, you know, talk to them in a nice, normal way; half of them is mean. That's why I don't have too much to say to none of them, but walk back there, take a seat, mind my own business, and that's it, because half of them is evil, and half of them don't know how to talk to people. And people try to be nice to them. And then, you know how it is.

But this, this time of day, we all try to be nice to people; but after that, we stand out in the cold waiting for the bus when we want to get on the bus and get warm, too. But these bus drivers, they've got an attitude, too, and some of them are mean and evil. Not all of them, but some of them. And that's the only way it is. I wish I could just get their badge numbers down, and that's it. Because anyway, we get tired, too. And then, after that, I do get tired 24 hours a day, but this time of day -- and I told one of them I will call in on them, and that's it, because I can't take it all the time. And that's the truth.

But I understand some of these routes will be changing pretty soon, but I've got to take a chance on it; and then, this time of day, I've got to learn how to read this book and see what this book had to say. And that's all.

MS. GETTY: Could you just state your name for the record, please?

MR. KARR: Michael Karr.

MR. KELLER: Thank you very much, Mr. Karr. Thank you.

Our next speaker will be Grace Lambert? Is that correct? Or Lawbert? Lambert?

MS. LAMBERT: Lambert.

MR. KELLER: Lambert. Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

MS. LAMBERT: Okay. I'm here about the, especially the 91. I catch the 91 at Ashburton, the Senior Citizen by Ashburton and North. My diabetic center used to be down to the University Hospital; but now, since they bought Maryland General, they changed us all up there. And the 91 would take me -- my appointments are like 8 o'clock in the morning, and the 91 would take me, and I can get right off and walk across the street. Now, he is telling me over there, Zach has told me that now, you have to take the 91, get off at Madison. I don't feel like getting off at no bus. I want to go straight there to my doctor, especially since I'm real early. I don't know what time you have to get off at Madison, and then catch the bus that's going out Eutaw. And I don't think it's fair. If it's not broke, don't fix it. You don't have to fix it, because it's okay.

And it takes me down -- of a day, I went down to Lexington Market to get my meats and stuff, and it just takes me straight to it. But it's going to be cold days for me to get off, and then transfer to another bus, and then wait for another bus, and don't know how long it's going to take. I want to go straight to the hospital.

And the number seven, I was just told that -- my church is down there on Pennsylvania and Dolphin. And I was told that the seven is going to change, turn on Dolphin Street. What about the Senior Citizen building down the street from my -- right next to my church? They can't walk up there. Some of them can't walk up there to Dolphin Street. And why do you need to turn? Because 21 goes out Dolphin Street, so both of them are going to meet. And a lot of times, I see them at Zion Towers. They come right out their building, and right there, they can catch the number seven, because they're going down to the market and everything. Once before, I remember they was going to take the number seven off, and it was a while ago; but then, I guess they changed their mind. And now, they're going back at it again. And there's a lot of churches down there on Pennsylvania Avenue. My church has been there a long time, because I've been there since I was five, at my church.

But my most important thing is that 91. That 91 takes a lot of us to the hospital since University have changed us and put us up there. And, I mean, leave it alone. Ninety-one was okay. Leave it alone. That's all I have to say.

MS. GETTY: Could you also state your name, please?

MS. LAMBERT: Grace Lambert.

MR. KELLER: Thank you very much, Ms. Lambert.

The next speaker will be Brenda Scott.

MS. SCOTT: Okay. Hello. I have two major concerns concerning the number seven bus. That's the bus that I catch to get -- because I work at University of Maryland Hospital that's downtown, and when I was -- said it's going to be changed, and I might have to walk up to Upton, up to Upton to catch it. I'm out on these streets until 4 o'clock in the morning, and I'm not trying to be walking from -- I live out on Calhoun Street, and I come out there, and come right to North and catch the number seven bus right, right up here, and I'm not too gung-ho about maybe having to get out in that hour of the morning and walk up to Upton when it's got a whole lot of undesirables, to catch the bus to get to work. So, I'm a little P'ed off about the change that I was told concerning the number seven bus.

The other bus that I'm a little hick [sic] about is the 36. I go out to the Walmart out in Riverview a lot. I'm normally -- I catch the subway, get off at the Charles Center, and catch the 36 at the Clarence Mitchell courthouse, or I may catch it at Baltimore and Fayette Street. Now, this brochure says you're all going to stop that, and I may have to go over to Lombard and catch the 36 on Lombard and Pratt. So, what you're telling me, I can -- if I catch the subway, get off at Charles Center, I'm going to have to walk a little ways over just to get the bus to go where I like to shop at. I don't understand that.

And I'm more than a little P'ed off about getting to work, number one, and where I may have to go to get the bus. I don't feel as though I should be put in -- I feel my, my, safety's in jeopardy, and I'm trying to make a living.