December 2, 2013

Attendees:

Charlie Bond, Robin Budish, Art Cohen, Kelly Cross (Chair), Kathy Epstein, Mel Freeman, Paulo Gregory Harris, Bob Hellauer, Mac McComas, Ed Myers, Klaus Philipsen, Jimmy Rouse, Jill Sorensen, Sandy Sparks

Welcome and Introductions:

Kelly Cross welcomed everyone, thanked them for their participation and opened the meeting.

Transit Guiding Principles (Jill Sorensen, Paulo Gregory Harris, Art Cohen)

Through a collaborative effort, Jill, Paulo and Art presented a draft “Guiding Principles” document which will be included in the Transit Choices “Quick Hits” presentation to the city and state.

  • The Guiding Principles are the values that underlie the decision making process.
  • It is important to measure what you value to be able to measure success:
    1. Identify what is the problem
    2. Look at the bigger picture vision to improve quality of life and opportunities for all people
    3. Use the opportunity to be truly comprehensive (Smart Growth principle takes into consideration both local and regional) when talking about the quality of life for all people
Discussion Points:
  • Bob Hellauer: transit should be for all – choice riders and dependent riders.
  • Klaus Philipsen: if transit serves the dependent riders well, it will serve the choice riders well.
  • Jill Sorensen: good mass transit should be to get people out of their cars and get them into the city.
  • Klaus Philipsen: in node centric development there is a link between transit and land use.
  • As reported in a recent Envision Baltimore newsletter, a key element of transit is a “frequent grid system” – getting people to jobs

Meeting Schedule: December 2013 & 2014:

All agreed to continue the meeting schedule in 2014 beginning on Monday, January 6th at Campaign Consultation, Inc.

Other Business:

  • Robin Budish reported that she and Jimmy Rouse would be meeting in January 2014 with Khalil Zaied (Mayor’s Office), William Johnson (BCDOT), Henry Kay and Robert Smith (MTA), Jim Smith and Leif Dormsjo (MDOT) to present the Transit Choices “Quick Hits” list. All individuals are both aware and interested in the work we are doing to make Baltimore a more livable, walkable city.
  • Bob Hellauer stated that the annual GBC Transportation Summit (Maryland’s Mobility Future) held on November 18, 2013 was a well-attended, successful event. Henry Kay (MTA) gave an update on the Red and Purple Lines and said that congress will come to fund the balance of the projects. Leif Dormsjo (MDOT) spoke about P3 opportunities mentioning that the Purple Line will be run by the private sector.
  • Klaus Philipsen mentioned that a Japanese consortium is interested in the potential MAGLEV future project and added that MAGLEV should be included in the Rail Transit discussion.
  • Kathy Epstein explained that “The Right Rail” group is working on an expanded streetcar network starting with the eastern portion of the proposed Red Line project.
  • Robin Budish, Jimmy Rouse and Peter Duvall met with Ed Myers (Kittelson & Associates) on November 25, 2013 to discuss a potential streetcar network/system in Baltimore.

Action Items:

  • Jill Sorensen, Paulo Gregory Harris and Art Cohen will take all comments from the Guiding Principles discussion and produce a revised document by December 9, 2013.
  • Robin Budish will send the 2014 meeting calendar to the work group.