Alert: Demand more for bike/ped



This is where we are:
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This is what they are planning to do about it:
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The highest count of pedestrian fatalities are in:
  • Prince Georges County
  • Baltimore County
  • Baltimore City
  • Anne Arundel County
(Baltimore Metro Area is a major issue.)

Not even 1% of the road budget... And this is supposed to help with 22.7% of Maryland's traffic fatalities that are bike/ped???

So your comments are needed to get that increased to 2.3% to be spent for bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements (10% of our traffic fatalities percentage.) Bike/ped crashes don't happen because of the lack of trails but because of poor design of the roads. Don't get me wrong, I like trails and trails can help some but how many have died crossing Ritchie Highway going from the B&A Trail to their homes? Trails are not complete unless there is an on-road component connecting them to the areas they serve. We cannot afford to neglect on-road accommodations any longer.

Remember the three big counties in the Baltimore metro area I mentioned earlier? This is what spending looks like for each of them:
Baltimore County$14,860,000 (mostly trails, $120,000 on-road)
Baltimore City$18,100,000 (all trails)
Anne Arundel County $0


This has never been done before but I for one am sick of the on-road portion of Baltimore County's Bike Master Plan mostly just sitting there while they plan for faster car travel on mostly car centric roads. And there are thousand of locations throughout the metro area that need some improvement for the safety of bicyclists and/or pedestrians. Attention to this issue has to begins somewhere, so it begins here.

We have a right to have our projects main streamed just like other transportation projects so Baltimore Counties, Annapolis and Columbia Bike Master Plans should be in the long range plans.

So the ASK is this, write to:

Baltimore Regional Transportation Board
Offices @ McHenry Row
1500 Whetstone Way, Suite 1500
Baltimore, MD 21230
Fax: 410-732-8248

E-mail: comments@baltometro.org
Web: www.baltometro.org/bboard

All comments must be received by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, October 21, 2011.


-- AND ---

Your state delegate and representatives and ask that more be done for bicycle and pedestrian safety then just ticketing j-walkers. Mention something (and location) that you think will help; sidewalks free of obstacles; ped buttons that actually work; even basic sidewalks and ped signals are needed in too many locations; crosswalks that actually look like crosswalks rather then fickle stop bars; bike lanes; bikeable shoulders; sharrows; Bikes May use Full Lane signage; bike friendly storm grates; traffic calming; ...

Other states are making a dent in their pedestrian fatality rate while Maryland's ranking keeps going up and up (click the top picture and you will be taken to site where you can change the date and see for yourself.) Other states are building bike lanes and strongly enforcing pedestrian safety. Here... well... We have a law that says " Ensure that there is an appropriate balance between funding for ... projects with facilities for pedestrians and bicycle riders." (full text after the "fold") and less then 1% is a appropriate funding level for an area with a high pedestrian fatality rate, with projects that don't really address pedestrian fatality rates or Maryland's low bicycling modal share??


Be sure to include your name and address. And the target of 2.3% of the transportation budget, it's more then just a fair request.

Plan It 2035 website
§ 2-602. Public policy



. The General Assembly finds that it is in the public interest for the State to include enhanced transportation facilities for pedestrians and bicycle riders as an essential component of the State's transportation system, and declares that it is the policy of the State that:

. (1) Access to and use of transportation facilities by pedestrians and bicycle riders shall be considered and best engineering practices regarding the needs of bicycle riders and pedestrians shall be employed in all phases of transportation planning, including highway design, construction, reconstruction, and repair as well as expansion and improvement of other transportation facilities;

. (2) The modal administrations in the Department shall ensure that the State maintains an integrated transportation system by working cooperatively to remove barriers, including restrictions on bicycle access to mass transit, that impede the free movement of individuals from one mode of transportation to another;

. (3) As to any new transportation project or improvement to an existing transportation facility, the Department shall work to ensure that transportation options for pedestrians and bicycle riders will be enhanced and that pedestrian and bicycle access to transportation facilities will not be negatively impacted by the project or improvement; and

. (4) In developing the annual Consolidated Transportation Program, the Department shall:

. (i) Ensure that there is an appropriate balance between funding for:

. 1. Projects that retrofit existing transportation projects with facilities for pedestrians and bicycle riders; and

. 2. New highway construction projects; and

. (ii) In transit-oriented areas within priority funding areas, as defined in § 5-7B-02 of the State Finance and Procurement Article, place increased emphasis on projects that retrofit existing transportation projects with facilities for pedestrians and bicycle riders and increase accessibility for the greatest number of pedestrians and bicycle riders.

by B' Spokes

Like most people I live a hectic life and who has the time for much exercise? Thanks to xtracycle now I do. By using my bike for daily activities I can get things done and get an hour plus work out in 15 minutes extra of my time, not a bad deal and beats taking the extra time going to the gym. In case you are still having trouble being motivated; the National Center of Disease Control says that inactivity is the #2 killer in the United States just behind smoking. ( http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/bb_nutrition/ ) Get out there and start living life! I can carry home a full shopping cart of groceries, car pool two kids or just get lost in the great outdoors camping for a week. Well I got go, another outing this weekend.
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