133
STATE OF MARYLAND
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
MARYLAND TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION
BaltimoreLink Public Hearing
40 East 33rd Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218
January 18, 2017
KEVIN QUINN, 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
135
I N D E X
Page
Opening by Mr. Quinn 4
Rules and Procedures by Ms. Getty 5
Statement by:
Mary Pat Clarke 12
Rob Reuter 15
Kunsun Sweeley 19
Leslie Lewis 21
Louis Hughes, Jr. 24
Barbara Morant 25
Michael Franch 27
David Overturf 29
Chris Croke 31
Jamal Burriss 33
Joe Stewart 35
Brenda Davis 37
Tyrone Parker 39
Jackie MacMillan 41
Sharon Guida 43, 74
Jacq Jones Ziegler 47
Mike Puma 50
Yvonne Matthews 52
Ann Gordon 55
Brenda Byrd 57
Ted Gross 59
Thomas Lee 61
Iola Deshields 63
Susan Walther 64
Rosemary Baumgardner 66
Dante Swinton 68
Hope Sanders 70
Judy Avera 75
Kenneth Johnson 76, 120
Allan Rebar 78
Heather Weir 81, 133
Steve Cather 83
I N D E X (con't)
Page
Statement by:
Shawn Taylor 86
Brian Hope 88
David McClure 92
Pamela Smith 96
Tony Sassafrass 99
Ed Cohen 103
Brenda Walker 106
Rosalind Thomas 107
Lewis Durant 110
Logan Mitchell 113
Francine Chambers 118
Ken Morgan 121
Sierra Brown 125
Penny Dunlap 129
P R O C E E D I N G S
MR. QUINN: Good evening, everyone. Let the record show it is now 5 p.m. on the -- sorry -- 18th of January 2017. I call to order this public hearing 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. I am Kevin Quinn, the MTA's Director of Planning, and I'll be serving as the Hearing Officer this evening. The Hearing Secretary today is Laura Getty.
I welcome you to this public hearing and I thank you for taking the time to attend. If you have not already done so, please silence your cell phones now.
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 BaltimoreLink transit network redesign.
The proposed changes would become 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.
The role of the Hearing Officer and the Secretary is strictly to take testimony. We are unable to answer questions while this hearing is in progress. Please address any questions you may have to the MTA representatives outside of this room by the front of the library.
The Maryland Transit Administration is committed to ensuring no individual is excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of its transit services and programs on the basis of race, color, or national origin as protected by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Ms. Getty will now state the rules and procedures for this hearing.
MS. GETTY: Good evening. The procedures for this hearing are as follows. Number one, individuals desiring to testify should register in the lobby area. Number two, speakers are required to provide their name and address. If representing a group, its name and address should also be provided.
Number three, 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.
Number four, questions should be addressed to MTA representatives outside of this room. The Hearing Officer cannot respond to questions while the hearing is in progress.
Number five, speakers are required to limit their statements to three minutes. Number six, these proceedings are recorded by a court stenographer.
Number seven, 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 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. QUINN: Notices regarding this hearing were published in 2016 as follows: December 5th and 12th in the Baltimore Sun; December 27th in the Jeffersonian; December 28th in the Towson Times; December 29th in the Dundalk Eagle and the East County Times; December 30th in the Sun's Weekend and the El Tiempo Latino.
Notices published in 2017 include, January 4 in the City Paper; January 6th in the the AFRO American, the Sun's Weekend, the Baltimore Times, and the Jewish Times. January 9th in the Baltimore Sun. And January 11th, in the Catonsville Times and the Arbutus Times.
At this time, I'd like to invite any elected officials present to comment, if they would like to.
MS. GUIDA: I have a process question. Okay. I just came from the room where people are congregating
-- separate room. Okay. So that indicates to me that there are people there that don't know this meeting has begun. Because I just came over from there --
MR. QUINN: Sure. So we will notify those people that the hearing has begun at 5 p.m. as it was scheduled to begin.
MS. GUIDA: Yeah. And in terms of what's happening, is that -- were you intending for that to go on during this meeting, that not everybody in that room would hear what's being said in here?
MR. QUINN: So during the hearing, the process, in terms of procedures, everyone gets three minutes. And the way the hearings work, we're not permitted to answer questions. So we wanted to set up a space where staff could answer questions. This is a space to provide testimony on the BaltimoreLink routes and not to have a presentation and discussion.
So if folks do have questions about the routes, if they have questions that they want answered, we've set up a separate space. This is how we've done it with every other public hearing that we hold where there's a separate space for questions to be answered, and dialogue with staff, and a separate space for hearing.
MS. GUIDA: -- follow-up question. And that is how will people who are not in this room be able to hear or read -- transcript about what was said --
MR. QUINN: Sure.
MS. GUIDA: -- when they weren't in the room?
MR. QUINN: So I'll ask staff to please go notify individuals in that room right now that the hearing has begun.
MS. GUIDA: So there's no transcript being taken of this hearing?
MR. QUINN: There's a transcript being taken right now of this hearing taking place.
MS. GUIDA: Will that transcript be available for review by the public after this meeting, or hearing?
MR. QUINN: Yes.
MS. GUIDA: And how will that happen?
MR. QUINN: I believe it is posted to the website. I need to get an answer to that. Let me get an answer to you for that question by the end of the hearing.
MS. GUIDA: Thank you.
MS. BAUMGARDNER: I'm a little bit unclear. I didn't know there were going to be two separate rooms. So I don't understand. If I have questions about a route -- I don't belong here? I belong over there?
MR. QUINN: Sure. So I apologize if it wasn't made clear at the registration table. So my apologies. We do have a separate room set up for answering questions and having dialogue with staff about the routes. This hearing and the way the hearing is set up to provide testimony on the routes themselves which is --
MS. BAUMGARDNER: What does that mean? Isn't that questions about that routes? What's the --
MR. QUINN: It's --
MS. BAUMGARDNER: -- difference --
MR. QUINN: Sorry, it's --
COURT REPORTER: Ma'am -- I need her name. I know Mrs. Guida from --
MR. QUINN: I'm sorry.
COURT REPORTER: -- previous times just -- but we have a procedure here. So I need to get your name. Anyone who speaks needs to have --
MS. BAUMGARDNER: Rosemary Baumgardner.
COURT REPORTER: Thank you.
MS. BAUMGARDNER: Yeah, I just don't understand where --
MR. QUINN: Sure, so --
MS. BAUMGARDNER: If I have questions about the routes, what's the difference between the testimony and questions?
MR. QUINN: Sure. So testimony is a statement to be put on the record as formal, public comment of your testimony and your statement on the plan and the routes as they had been proposed. The other room is to more informally ask questions that you may have about the routes themselves.
MS. BAUMGARDNER: Okay.
MR. QUINN: Okay. At this time, I'd like to invite any elected officials to comment. And if you could please step up to the microphone, state your name and your address for the record. Thank you.
MS. CLARKE: Hi. My name is Mary Pat Clarke, Baltimore City Council, 14th District. And I wrote my comment so that I could stick to the two minutes. And now I have three and I'm glad, because I have an announcement. I'm part of the Bus Workgroup 14.
And if people are interested in receiving input from us, after this hearing, I would ask if you would please, before you leave, sign up over there where Sharon Guida is with the yellow sheet. Environmentally incorrect. She's not. She is, but -- and so sign up there. Make sure we have your email address, if you have one, and that it's clearly stated. And then, if you don't have email, give us your address, your regular address and phone number. Okay. So I used the extra minutes.
Okay. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Good evening, members of BaltimoreLink. At BaltimoreLink's first round of hearings in this very library just one year ago, a group of 14th District bus patrons and transit nerds stayed after the meeting, long enough to establish Bus Workgroup 14, a self-appointed volunteer workgroup, which has tirelessly researched and lobbied ever since to make new make link routes accessible, reliable, and safe.
City Council District 14 is located in North Central Baltimore, relying on diverse bus routes through and beyond our 14th District boundaries of Falls Road to the west, Belair Road to the east, 25th Street south, up to Cold Spring Lane in the north.
We thank the MTA planners we have worked with for their attention to our concerns and their many positive route adjustments to the initial plan, including in restoring crosstown services on 33rd Street and to destinations now served by the 3 route; in leaving the 22 route basically intact; in preserving the 61 route so essential to commuters; in resuscitating the 8/48, 11 and 27 routes to better reflect their crucial importance to the daily travels of 14th District patrons.
The frequency and reliability of the 11 and 27 routes, however, remain a concern. We ask MTA to please revisit these issues for final phase adjustments. On the positive side, we also applaud MTA's decision to honor complete street standards by continuing to run the 11 route down Maryland Avenue. This is MTA's chance to effectively link all stakeholders in an intermodal model for the entire system.
In the to-be fixed column, the proposed new 36 route adds transfer requirements which threaten northeast patrons with double or triple travel times to arrive at downtown employment destinations and connections. Jobs and careers are at stake without the efficient route commuters rely on.
Scores of patrons in northeast neighborhoods have testified to me that they chose their homes and bought their homes based on access of the 36 to their route and career center downtown. We have lost our Red line after the good faith of link planners. And we do thank you very much for being responsive and listening to us all these months.
After that good faith and the importance of the only public transportation left us -- tragic of a year from now, frustrated patrons gather here to conclude that the best bus plan was the one we had. We hope not. And thank you for all the progress to date.
MR. QUINN: Thank you. Okay. At this time, when I call your name, please step up to the microphone. Please state and spell your name and provide your address for the record. I'd like to call Bob --
MR. REUTER: Since we have this much and we get three minutes to talk about it, I'm going to have to jump around a little bit on my testimony. I know that these meetings are spitting into the wind. And little if anything is said here will be incorporated into the final plan. But the law says they have to hold these hearings so here they here.
There still is no direct north/south connection between Northwest Baltimore along Pennsylvania Avenue and the Upton area with the Greene Street corridor, which includes the Lexington Market, the VA Hospital, and the University of Maryland Hospital. This is a major gap in the service. The University of Maryland Transit Center, will it be resurrected, as it seems to only be a layover point for buses, not an actual transit center.
And the West Baltimore Marc Station was to be made fully accessible under the Red Line Light Rail plan. But it seems the MTA has thrown out people with disabilities along with the light rail. If the West Baltimore March Station is used a transit center it must, by law, be made accessible, including the MARC trains, Penn Station is at least 45 additional minutes away, certainly disparate treatment and a violation of ADA.