Baltimore Region Environmental Justice in Transportation Project

Agenda

9:30 - 10:00 Registration
10:00 - 19:15 Welcome & Introduction
10:15 - 10:30 Review of Phase I
10:30 - 11:15 Phase II Overview & Case Study Process
11:15 - 11:30 Break
11:30 - 12:15 Pick the Three Case Studies
12:15 - 13:00 Lunch with Case Study Teams

Project Team

During the Welcome & Introduction one woman described herself as a “recent victim of the MTA.”

The primary purpose of this meeting is to identify case study themes. These themes have to represent a cross section of the community with special emphasis on low income and minority. This is a core meeting, not a closed membership meeting.

Pat Tracey:

The Center is the East Baltimore Development Corporation. It coordinates relocation of residents due to the construction in the area. Over 400 families have been moved.

This project is two phases. May 2004 is the first phase. There were several listening sessions. They were to set a stage for community members to come together and talk about environmental issues. The key component of the projects was to ensure that the participants come up with a list of concerns.

In Phase II we will develop a tool kit.

Leon Purnell:

We have five topics. We have to narrow them down to three and then do case studies. The five areas are

Quality & Adequacy of Transit Services
Accessibility
Funding/Equity
Congestion & Environment
Public Participation

The tool kit is the final benefit of the project.

As we move forward, it will create a forward environment to network with other groups. This is not about transit. It is about environment.

Brent Flickinger said that we are going to document what works. This is a Baltimore region project. The Transportation Center at Morgan State University is a national center. They are building a model and they have application in other metropolitan areas. It includes a public health component. We are trying to get everybody working together but we have to do it in a subtle way.

Quentin Hill said that we are all in this together. A particular emphasis is on low income and minority community.

Ed Cohen said that some of the three topic are more amenable to quantitative analysis than others. Pat Tracey asked to bring the language down so that everybody can understand it.

We have a case study team and a technical team. The information from the case study team will be processed by the technical team. Just because there is not a quantitative measure does not mean that we will ignore it.

We will put dots [on the charts] besides the issues that we consider most important. We want to make this digestible.

We have community groups, Morgan State University, and another group doing research. This is not happening all across the country. This is good.

Brent Flickinger went over every issue. We narrow them down to 16 major issues. Some of the issues discussed follow.

“Complaints don’t get heard” is basically a customer service issue with government. The other three on the first page of the Transit Service are with transit routes. Bus overcrowded is a service issue. Equipment on bus is about maintenance on the system. Some of the things will be added in to the case study. Sarah suggested that a major cause for many of these problems is funding.

Infrastructure is about bus stops and maintenance. Equipment on bus is about rolling stock. Stops, stations, and nearby infrastructure is about the area. Just as Michael Deets of MTA walked in, Dr. Glenn Robinson said that this is not about the MTA. It is bigger than that. We are trying to bridge the gap. People come from different disciplines. Of course, Dr. Robinson's comment had nothing to do with the fact that Michael Deets just arrived. Brent Flickinger said that we are looking for new tools. Transit was one of the big things that came out of the listening process.

George Oleru asked what are the key needs o the community. Are these needs being met? Dr. Michael Trush said that public participation is a part of every category. It cuts across everything. Brent Flickinger said that there are some legal requirements also. You have to have public participation in these all the time.

Regina Aris said that each topic came because a group of people came to them and said that this is important.

Brent Flickinger said that congestion and environment is bring environment in transportation.

A wheelchair woman told about Customer Service telling her that her ride will be there at 9:00 and they knew that the driver did not start work until 9:15. [I hope to get her name later].

We have to put a geographical boundary around each group.

We voted on the various groups and broke for lunch catered by Agape House, 410-728-2222. The food was fantastic and the price was very good.

The group to which I will be a member is the Transit Service group. This also fits in very well with my membership in TRAC (Transit Riders Action Council of Metropolitan Baltimore) and TAM (Transportation Association of Maryland). We will meet on Thursday 27 July 2006 at 18:30 in City Hall. Leon Purnell is our “leader.” Before we closed, he commented, “I like bringing to the table people who normally don’t have a voice and we give them a voice.” If you have concerns about public transportation and bus service, here is your opportunity.