GBBI Hearings

On Thursday 29 June 2006 and Friday 30 June 2006, in accordance with State law recently enacted, the Maryland Transit Administration held hearings concerning the next set of changes to be implemented by the MTA.

The MTA had set up four tables for people to testify. At each table was a hearing officer, secretary, and court reporter responsible for transcribing testimony. Baltimore City’s Delegate Nathaniel T. Oakes objected, along with several others, and the format was changed into a real hearing. Initially individual’s testimony was not to be heard by everybody. This occurred long before I arrived. The hearings started around 16:00 and I get off work at 17:00 and it took me 33 minutes to get to te parking spot.

Finding the campus was not difficult, although I have never been at Coppin State University in the past. Once I got there, I met two bus drivers who were going to the same place that I was going. We knew where to park because there was a sign pointing to the parking lot. But there was absolutely no indication of where we are supposed to go from this point. We had to ask directions.

The bus drivers proposed that the bus driver union and TRAC (Transit Riders Action Coalition) meet to discuss common issues and concerns. They said that the MTA had cut out so much time from the runs that they just can’t do it, namely keep the schedule. The schedules are unrealistic. It is impossible for the drivers to keep on time. Dan Pontius of CPHA (Citizens Planning and Housing Association), who was leaving as we were arriving, said that we are aware of this.

Lisa Dickerson said, concerning the hearing today, “the hardest part for us is that we can’t talk back.” In other words, this is a one-way street. The MTA is receiving comments from the citizens but they cannot answer any comments.

Ms. Dickerson also said that there are street supervisors coming out. MTA wants its own assessment and they have eyes out there so that they can react. Also, there will be data on CPHA’s website.

Chuck, whom I know from the Transit Riders League (TRL) said that the #7 needs to be returned to its regular schedule and the M6 needs to be restored. He rides the bus everyday and he knows the entire system since he rides all the modes: bus, light rail, subway, and MARC. He said that many of the changes are good. He was surprised that he didn’t see the M6. We need the M6 back. The 44 needs to be short turned, he also said. He finished by saying “the folks who ride the M6 are some fantastic people.”

One man said to think about one day if nobody rode the buses.

Al Foxx, the Director of Transportation for Baltimore City, said that te public must have faith in the process. This is in order for a public transportation system to succeed. Citizens who do not live in the community are affected by the modifications and they need to have a voice. It is in the best interest of the MTA to demonstrate that they are listening. Baltimore City has concerns how changes will affect seniors, school children, and people with disabilities. The impact on jobs is also a major concern. Service on the 16 will be maintained but service on the 17 has been modified. Elimination of service around employment centers are unfortunate. The 19 will continue to serve the State Center.

The system is only successful if the buses are reliable and on time. It does not appear that changes on the bus lines have improved services. Today most transit users are bus riders and of low income.

A woman asked if the mayor knows what Colonel Foxx had just said. Colonel Foxx said that he probably does.

John Wolf said that this is a smoke screen. They are trying to sit here and disrupt the City.

Outside the meeting Saul Wilson, age 14, said that they don’t let him on Amtrak because he does not have an ID. This raised a question about who should have Ids. At what age does an individual need to have an ID today? My first ID was when I received my driver’s license at the age of 16. But this was centuries before 9-11.

A discussion arose about Amtrak’s accepting MARC tickets. Colonel Foxx said that he had never had a problem, but then he usually has a monthly pass or the ten-trip tickets ($56.00 for ten trip tickets to Washington DC).

Lisa Dickerson, I, and somebody else also discussed the B30 bus between BWI Airport and Washington DC. I commented that I learned about the bus when I went to Philadelphia for a rail conference.

Some people claim that the MTA is waiting for BGE rate increase. A civil rights attorney talked about alleged racism and not about transit.

I had a conversation with Robert Flanigan, the Secretary of Transportation for the State of Maryland, and he said that they are trying to form partnerships with businesses. The business gets a tax break and the MTA can provide a small subsidy. They did one in Towson and are looking at other opportunities as well.

The Citizen Advisory Committee apparently is planning a trip to Philadelphia to look at their system. I had heard that the trip has been cancelled, but this was news to Lisa Dickerson who just saw a request for this recently. She said that she cannot send an MTA bus out of the State.

The second hearing was at Sojourn-Douglass College on Friday evening. I parked on the street because I did not know about their parking lot. I suggest that in the future any organizations which hold public hearings also tell people where they can park and give a description of how to reach the building and/or room where the hearing or meeting is being held. Don't presume that your audience knows the area.

Thanks to the encouragement of Mr. Shelton Stewart, Office of Senior Initiatives of MTA, I also testified. I said, among other things, that I would like for the State to have as its goal to “get people like me out of our cars and onto public transportation”. I described some of the problems that I have with the system and even suggested some ways of eliminating some of the problems. I alo thanked the General Assembly and MTA for holding the hearings and I encouraged all citizens to get involved in the transportation issues and in their communities. I also applauded MTA for putting out their literature in Russian, Korean, and Spanish. I strongly believe that if you are in a country, you should make every effort to learn the language of the country, but I also understand the problems of newly arrived immigrants, especially if they are from a country who uses a different alphabet. I am slowly learning Russian since there are many people at my church who speak it as a first language. At the moment I am not devoting much (if any) energy on Spanish since I do not have a real need for it.

I also had a very interesting conversation with a 28-year old man who looks like he is no more than 18. We both traded insights and ideas and I think that we both benefited from the experience.

I did not hear anything new at the second hearing. We recessed several times because there was a lack of speakers. One individual gave out a bunch of telephone numbers and he kept saying, "One, dash, eight hundred,..." After several numbers like this, I shared with an MTA employee that a friend of mine told me that when she was a child she did not know how to dial home, although she knew the telephone number, because she did not know how to dial the dash. I mentioned to another individual that if you were in San Antonio, you would put the dash in a different place than we normally do here.

At the end Saul Wilson, his mother, and I left at the same time. There were some portraits on the wall and she asked who are in them and the man who was at the door told us. He presumed that we all knew who Sojourner Truth was. This was the first time that I have heard of her. He was shocked. But when I was in high school and most of my college years, there was no such thing as black history courses. This put me at a major disadvantage when I had to take a writing test at Texas Southern University as most of the questions on which we had to write were about black history and events which took place in Houston.

After the photographs is a recap of my Testimony.

Dan Pontious of CPHA and two MTA bus drivers		Chuck testifying
Colonel Al Foxx, Director, Department of Transportation, City of Baltimore
		Ed Cohen, President of TRAC, and Al Foxx
	Lisa Dickerson, Administrator, MTA, and Col. Al Foxx
		Al Fox, Coppin State police sergeant, and Saul Wilson of TRAC
	Nicole Fuller, reporter, Baltimore Sun
	Christopher Fields of TRAC and Michael Deets of MTA	Nate Payer and Ed Cohen, both of TRAC
		Robert Flanigan, Secretary, Department of Transportation
	Robert Flanigan and Lisa Dickerson
		sitting: Melvin Stukes of MTA
	Sojourner-Douglass College	Three women and Robert Reuter
		MTA employee with two wonderful senior citizens
	Barker Much of TRAC
		Saul Wilson, 14, of TRAC, testifying

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