Department of Transportation s8

1 STATE OF MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 2 MARYLAND TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION

4 BaltimoreLink Public Hearing

8 4301 Woodbridge Road Baltimore, Maryland 21229 9 January 12, 2017 10

16 DANYELL DIGGS, Hearing Officer

17 HOLLY ARNOLD, Hearing Secretary

24 Proceedings recorded by electronic sound recording; 25 transcript produced by Free State Reporting, Inc.

FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902

1 I N D E X

2 Page

3 Opening remarks by Danyell Diggs 3

4 Rules and procedures by Holly Arnold 4

5 Speakers:

6 Noelle Mason 8

7 Sharrone McDowell 9

8 Diane Bennaugh 12

9 Arthur Petersen 13

10 Diane Bennaugh 16

11 Wanda Wallace 17

FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902 Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947 3

1 P R O C E E D I N G S

2 MS. DIGGS: Let the record show it is now

3 6 p.m. on the 12th of January 2017. I call to order this

4 public hearing, conducted by the Maryland Transit

5 Administration, as required by Title 7 of the Maryland

6 Transportation Article. The Maryland Transit

7 Administration, also known as MTA, is a transportation

8 business unit of the Maryland Department of

9 Transportation.

10 Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I'm

11 Danyell Diggs, the MTA's Deputy Director for the Office

12 of Planning and Programming, serving as the Hearing

13 Officer this evening. The Hearing Secretary today is

14 Holly Arnold. I welcome you to this public hearing and I

15 thank you for taking the time to attend. If you have not

16 already done so, please silence your cell phones now.

17 The purpose of this hearing is to accept

18 testimony pertaining to the Maryland Department of

19 Transportation's Maryland Transit Administration's

20 proposed service changes for the next phase of

21 implementation of the BaltimoreLink transit network

1 redesign. The proposed changes would become effective on

2 or about Sunday, June 18th, 2017. Full details of the

3 proposed changes are presented in a two-volume document

4 available at the registration table.

5 The role of the Hearing Officer and the

6 Secretary is strictly to take testimony. We are unable

7 to answer questions while this hearing is in progress.

8 Please address any questions you may have to the MTA

9 representatives just outside of this room.

10 The Maryland Transit Administration is

11 committed to ensuring no individual is excluded from

12 participation in, or denied the benefits of its transit

13 services and programs on the basis of race, color, or

14 national origin as protected by Title VI of the Civil

15 Rights Act of 1964.

16 Ms. Holly Arnold will now state the rules and

17 procedures for this hearing.

18 MS. ARNOLD: Good evening. The procedures for

19 this hearing are as follows:

20 1. Individuals desiring to testify should

21 register in the lobby area.

1 2. Speakers are required to provide their name

2 and address. If representing a group, its name and

3 address should also be provided.

4 3. For this hearing, all statements should be

5 directed to the Hearing Officer and must be related to

6 the Subject matter of the hearing, as outlined in the

7 proposal.

8 4. Questions should be addressed to MTA

9 representatives outside of this room. The Hearing

10 Officer cannot respond to questions while the hearing is

11 in progress.

12 5. Speakers are required to limit their

13 statements to 3 minutes.

14 6. These proceedings are recorded by a court

15 stenographer.

16 7. Prepared statements or literature

17 pertaining to the subject of the proposal may be

18 submitted to the Hearing Officer or to the MTA Office of

19 Customer and Community Relations.

20 For those who prefer to submit comments in

21 writing rather than verbally, comment forms are available

1 at the registration table. MTA staff is available to

2 offer assistance. Comment forms can also be downloaded

3 by visiting www.BaltimoreLink.com.

4 Written statements may be submitted for the

5 hearing record, by:

6 1. Submitting to MTA staff at the registration

7 table;

8 2. Mailing to the address listed on the

9 comment form; or

10 3. Emailing comments to

11 [email protected] with "Written Testimony"

12 as the subject heading.

13 All testimony received by the February 21st,

14 2017, deadline will be considered before the proposals

15 are finalized.

16 MS. DIGGS: Notices regarding this hearing were

17 published in 2016 as follow: December 5th & 12th in the

18 Baltimore Sun; December 27th in The Jeffersonian;

19 December 28th - The Towson Times; December 29th - The

20 Dundalk Eagle and The East County Times; December 30th -

21 The Sun's Weekend, and El Tiempo Latino; January 4th in

1 the The City Paper; January 6th in the The Afro American,

2 The Sun's Weekend, The Baltimore Times and The Jewish

3 Times; January 9th in The Baltimore Sun; January 11th in

4 The Catonsville Times and The Arbutus Times.

5 At this time, I would like to invite elected

6 officials to comment.

7 When I call your name please step up to the

8 microphone, state and spell your name, and provide your

9 address for the record.

10 This concludes the list of individuals who have

11 registered to speak. Let the record show that it is now

12 6:04 p.m. and I hereby recess this hearing until someone

13 wishes to testify or until 8:00 p.m., when we will

14 adjourn.

15 (Off the record at 6:04 p.m.)

16 (On the record at 6:05 p.m.)

17 MS. DIGGS: Let the record it is now 6:05 p.m.

18 I hereby recommence this hearing and will now call for

19 statements from those who have registered.

20 As your name is called please step up to the

21 microphone and begin by stating your name and address for

1 the record.

2 Noelle Madison Mason.

3 MS. MADISON: My name is Noelle Mason. My

4 address is 4151 Mountwood Road. And I just wanted to say

5 that the new system is a great idea. I hope we have the

6 education in place to get people informed about it. It

7 doesn't seem like a lot of people know what's going on

8 and there are a lot of specialty routes.

9 I personally take the 15 to Rutherford, and I

10 was told -- at first I was told that that line was being

11 discontinued, meaning that I would have to get off at

12 Security, which is a good distance away from where I work

13 and we'd have to walk through the elements in order to

14 get to work. And there's a lot more than just a call

15 center. There's, you know, the FBI building back there.

16 There is a lot of businesses and things back there. A

17 lot of people rely on that bus. So I think some of those

18 lines should be enhanced rather than taken away.

19 And then as far as like the connections with

20 other systems as far as like, you know, different

21 counties and different portions of the state. Like, you

1 know, sometimes you have to connect with thins for like

2 Anne Arundel and their RTA system. I know that that

3 sometimes is a little shaky. I'm not sure about what

4 buses are connected there. So I just wanted to say that

5 I really wish -- I really hope that this system is going

6 to improve the connections with other systems as well.

7 MS. DIGGS: Okay. Thank you. Sharrone

8 McDowell.

9 MS. MCDOWELL: Sharrone McDowell. My name is

10 Sharrone McDowell. I put only -- I put only the city,

11 state and zip code. I can say that I live on this street

12 in a different block. I live on the same street that the

13 meeting is -- for the meeting location to this evening.

14 I ride the 23 and 40. I ride the 8 or the 48

15 to travel to work. Sometimes I work in public schools

16 and I depend on public transportation. I depend on the

17 bus riding through Baltimore City. I don't know a lot

18 about changes. What I think I learned recently from the

19 meeting -- the MTA meeting in Towson, by looking at the

20 book there, is that the 23 and 40 and 8 and 48 will be

21 replaced. I would like to say this -- if I will need to

1 ride blocks from the house, meaning riding from this area

2 of Edmonson Avenue or Wildwood Parkway and Edmonson, past

3 Hilton Street to the MARC train station to wait there for

4 another bus, I don't know -- I think that could cause a

5 delay in my travel.

6 I don't want to speak as though I know

7 everything. I would like to be respectful about what I

8 say. If I need to wait blocks from the house for a bus

9 after riding the 23 and the 40, will my trip get delayed?

10 And I can give an example of travel during my day.

11 Yesterday I went to work in Towson. I was riding the 40

12 from Edmonson Avenue and Wildwood Parkway. We kept

13 going. It was 6:00 a.m. We were downtown before 6:15 at

14 least, between 11 and 6:15 I think we were already

15 downtown. I saw the 8. Minutes later I got on the 8. I

16 was already in Towson probably before 7:15. I already

17 had my coffee cup in my hand so that I could get ready to

18 continue on. So I was already on York Road. I have a

19 store receipt with my coffee -- my coffee receipt. I was

20 already on York Road before 7:25. Sometimes the trip

21 could take longer. But why would I need to stop past

1 Hilton Street and wait to do something else when I could

2 keep traveling.

3 I also go to Essex to a job sometimes. I ride

4 the 40 -- oh, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

5 MS. DIGGS: Okay. Thank you.

6 Arthur Ruffenos (phonetic sp.).

7 MS. DIGGS: This concludes the list of

8 individuals who have registered to speak.

9 Let the record show that it is now 6:11 p.m. I

10 hereby recess this hearing until someone wishes to

11 testify or until 8:00 p.m. when we will adjourn.

14 MS. DIGGS: Let the record show it is now 6:16

15 p.m. I hereby recommence this hearing and will now call

16 for statements from those who have registered. As your

17 name is called, please step up to the microphone, and

18 begin by stating your name and address for the record.

19 Diane Bennaugh.

20 MS. BENNAUGH: Bennaugh.

21 MS. DIGGS: Bennaugh. Thank you.

1 MS. BENNAUGH: My name is Diane Bennaugh, and

2 my address is 1 South Woodington Road, Baltimore,

3 Maryland 21229.

4 I work in the Dundalk Broening Highway area and

5 it would be really great if they can increase the public

6 transportation in the area. Right now it's just the 26,

7 which does not run very frequent. So if I miss one bus

8 it's like an hour before the next 26, so it would be

9 great if they could. They're also doing a lot of

10 building up in that area, so it would be really great if

11 they can add another bus or increase the schedule or

12 adjust the schedule that would be great.

13 MS. DIGGS: Thank you.

14 MS. HOLLY: Thank you.

15 MS. BENNAUGH: Thank you.

16 MS. DIGGS: This concludes the list of

17 individuals who have registered to speak.

3 6:19 p.m. I hereby recommence this hearing and will now

4 call for statements from those who have registered. As

5 your name is called, please step up to the microphone,

6 and begin by stating your name and address for the

7 record.

8 Arthur Peterson.

9 MR. PETERSEN: Arthur E. Petersen, s-e-n,

10 Junior, 2726 North Longwood Street, 21216.

11 MS. DIGGS: Okay.

12 MR. PETERSEN: While this is a good plan, there

13 are still some issues that I've seen that I've addressed

14 with MTA particularly, directly with Josh Diamond that --

15 and I've seen some things that I've suggested have been

16 incorporated, which is good. But there's still some

17 areas where I think there needs to be more thought, I

18 think that need to be rethought. And one is in the Druid

19 Heights, Upton, Sandtown area. For example, you still do

20 not have continuous one-seat service on Pennsylvania

21 Avenue. It's much better than it was in the first plan,

1 but still there needs to be continuous service on

2 Pennsylvania Avenue especially between North Avenue and

3 the Green Street/Packard Street corridor.

4 Because right now, as it is -- as things are

5 currently planned for the BaltimoreLink iteration, folks

6 are going to have to transfer and I don't see what the

7 necessity is for that. I mean, is it going to save that

8 much in terms of miles and hours. Is there some

9 overwhelming issue that would prevent the routings I'm

10 going to suggest taking place that would address that?

11 For example, there continues to be no service on Druid

12 Hill and McCullough. From my perspective that's

13 unacceptable. It's a very heavily transit dependent

14 corridor that can and does support ridership on

15 Pennsylvania Avenue, McCullough, Druid Hill and Utah

16 Place.

17 You are creating a, in my view a safety and

18 security situation. If you're familiar with those

19 neighborhoods, by now forcing folks to walk to

20 Pennsylvania Avenue on the one end, or walk to Utah Place

21 on the other end, especially after dark. Because those

1 streets are poorly lit, it's dark, and you're not going

2 to encourage ridership. If anything, you're going to

3 encourage more hackers, you're going to encourage folks

4 who can afford it to do Uber or Lyft. They're just not

5 going to make that -- they're just not going to make that

6 trek. Even though on paper and looking on the map that

7 looks like, oh, that's not far to go, but you're getting

8 off the bus and you've got three blocks to walk, where

9 previously you only had one or two, that's an issue.

10 MS. DIGGS: W. Wallace.

11 This concludes the list of -- you're -- okay.

13 registered to speak.

1 your name is called, please step up to the m microphone,

3 record.

4 Diane Bennaugh.

5 MS. BENNAUGH: My name is Diane Bennaugh, and

6 my address is 1 South Woodington Road, Baltimore,

7 Maryland 21229.

8 And I'd like to comment on the 20 bus schedule.

9 Since you've taken the 30 schedule away I'm assuming --

10 well, I was hoping that the 20 would run more often, but

11 they don't. So because they're not on time, I'm not on

12 time to catch my transfer bus, which is 26 which takes me

13 to Dundalk. And when that 20 is late I'm late, and it's

14 an hour wait.

15 So that was my comment on the 20. So if they

16 can keep on the scheduled time that would be great.

17 That's it.

8 your name is called, please step up to the m microphone,

10 record.

11 W. Wallace.

12 MS. WALLACE: Yes. My name is Wanda Wallace

13 and I'm here with two hats. I'm representing the

14 Allendale Community Association and also the Democratic

15 State Central Committee.

16 I have had a chance to briefly review the

17 different changes for the routes, and I'm deeply

18 concerned about them because yet again I feel like there

19 is a pattern of discrimination in the southwest area. I

20 have noticed that the route is going to be cut up.

21 Instead of going -- coming directly through Edmonson

1 Village and then going directly downtown, there's a stop

2 at the MARC train site. And there you have to get a

3 transfer and then move towards downtown. Which that

4 really doesn't make too much sense to me. I did review a

5 lot of it, but I did see that particular item stood out

6 for me. And when it's cold outside, no one wants to wait

7 on a bus stop and then have to transfer to another bus

8 that simply does not make sense.

9 I'm also concerned about the times, how

10 frequently the buses will come. I'm concerned about the

11 bus consolidation, the inconvenience and hardship to

12 riders. And it seems to me the way the bus is kind of --

13 the bus line is chopped up, that it's more of a

14 convenience for CMS. It's more CMS ridership, Johns

15 Hopkins Bayview ridership, and those who are going to the

16 MARC train, not necessarily for the low-income,

17 hardworking people in this district.

18 I am going to continue reviewing this and to

19 ensure that there's an equitable balance in place for

20 everyone. And I think those are my concerns for right

21 now. Thank you.

10 8:00 p.m. and this concludes this public hearing. Thank

11 you, ladies and gentlemen for participating. The

12 comments you've provided are valuable and will be

13 considered before the proposed changes are finalized.

14 Good night.

15 (Whereupon, the Public Hearing concluded at

16 8:00 p.m. on January 12, 2017.)

1 C E R T I F I C A T E

2 This is to certify that the attached

3 proceedings before the Maryland Transit Administration in

4 the matter of:

5 BaltimoreLink Public Hearing

6 PLACE: Baltimore, Maryland

7 DATE: January 12, 2017

8 were held as herein appears, and that this is the

9 original transcript thereof for the file of the

10 Agency.

12 ______Dominico Quattrociocchi, Reporter 13 FREE STATE REPORTING, INC.

FREE STATE REPORTING, INC. Court Reporting Transcription D.C. Area 301-261-1902 Balt. & Annap. 410-974-0947