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"All over the country, I'm seeing the same
Nobody's winning, at this type of game
We gotta do better, it's time to begin
You know all the answers
Must come from within
Come on and take a free ride
Free ride
Come on and take it by my side
Come on and take a free ride!"
"Free Ride" - Edgar Winter
"If you live in a place where buying a car and spending $10,000 a year on car-related payments is your only way to get around,
then your leaders have failed you and your children. Using streets to simply move and store cars is not optimizing
that space. We just got blinded by the car industry and this belief that we should put an SUV in every garage."
- Transit Alternatives, Danny Harris
Guess what? Baltimore, where the invention of the "third rail" railway "Streetcar" occurred, had a public transit system
that ran exclusively on electricity. Trolleys, Streetcars, and Cablecars, as well as Lightrails run on electricity. In 1920,
1 in 10 Americans owned an automobile. 1947 vision of auto manufacturers, tire companies, and oil barons forced streetcars
to become eliminated, thereby forcing buses onto the public. They even burned the trolleys, cablecars, and streetcars
to insure they would never return to the streets. Europe and the rest of the world went the other way after
WWII: rebuilt their streetcars and new trains. Year after year, Europeans that have such amenities, even free transit countrywide,
are ranked, "HAPPY."
Bus service is sold as, "so good, so dependable." So why do we have a subway and light rail? Both subway and light rail have
limited stops; forcing considerable more time and another mode of transportation to get to a stop in order to use. Baltimore
Region suburbanites move into specific Baltimore locations, segregated from the densely populated, shorter-distanced
riding people who YEARN to move fast - and only wish within the city. FREE Dedicated Lane Streetcars reconnect neighborhood
to neighborhood and being able to anywhere one wants to again. End Baltimore City being an afterthought. Segregated transportation
must stop. And how it is done is replacing all buses in Baltimore City with its own streetcars.
Vehicle Race: "The Stig, Hammond, May and Clarkson Cross-London Race" - Top Gear
"NYC Wants to Take 25% of its Street Space Away From Cars in Favor of a Walkable / Bikeable City" (2022)
"NYC 25x25: A Challenge to New York City's Leaders to Give Streets Back to People" - Transportation Alternatives
"The Failure and Success of Great American Transit: Metros" - Big MoodEnergy
Seek below regarding Worldwide free transit systems.
"Building roads to reduce congestion is like trying to bail out a boat with a bucket that knocks a bigger hole in the
bottom each time you use it." - B. Bond, Movement Against Destruction (MAD)
"I don't think many young blacks in Baltimore now feel their time will ever come. The cancelation of the light-rail
line was a symbol of something deeper; they are now physically and psychologically cut off from the rest of the world."
"Development of the interstate highway system, as it carved its way through central cities, tended to disrupt largely
black areas, displacing families, and disrupting communities.
REDUCING SMOG REDUCES ASTHMA REDUCES SUFFERING REDUCES MEDICINES. ASTHMA HAS NO CURE - ONLY ENDS AT DEATH.
Air pollution from roadway vehicles appears to be disproportionately affecting some areas of Baltimore City that have the
highest asthma hospitalization and emergency room visit rates. Increasing opportunities for Baltimore residents and commuters
to take public transit will likely reduce the pollution burden on these communities. Baltimore's public transit system is
notoriously outdated and inadequate; especially for a city that wishes to attract new residents and new businesses.
BALTIMORE IS SECOND WORST - MOST CHALLENGED CITY IN USA TO LIVE WITH ASTHMA - Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA)
(2021)
"In Baltimore City, 20% of children have an asthma diagnosis, which is more than double the national prevalence of
9%."
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| United States of America Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) |
"Extreme Weather Is Only Getting Worse. Can Cities Protect Public Transit?: Climate-Resilient Public Transportation is Crucial
to Meeting Climate Goals and Ensuring Mobility for Vulnerable Communities." (2022)
I know all these depressing facts are painful. So take a little respite. Tell me how this feels: take a trip with Chris DeBurgh
on a Ship and a Tram - an Aerial Cablecar!
"Transportation systems that maximize people’s access to good transit are necessarily inclusive, without barriers linked
to race, income, age, or ability. And because transit is resource-efficient and supports low-emissions neighborhoods,
it’s also an indispensable tool to prevent climate change, clean our air, and protect public health.” -
National Campaign for Transit Justice
"You can't understand a city without using its public transportation system." - Erol Ozan
"Anybody, who is lucky enough, on the face of the planet of 7 and a half billion people, to have more money than you can ever
spend in your life, have more chicks run after you that you don't deserve, 'cause you are not that good looking; I'm talking
about myself. Glory, fame, all that stuff; I don't have to do a GD thing, and people will give me free stuff. Where were
they when I couldn't afford to get on a bus? That you wouldn't see how blessed you are is - delusional - it's criminal."
- Gene Simmons, Musician, KISS
"'I'm not sure he's wrong about automobiles,' he said. 'With all their speed forward they may be a step backward in civilization
-- that is, in spiritual civilization. It may be that they will not add to the beauty of the world, nor to the life of men's
souls.' - Booth Tarkington, The Magnificent Ambersons
"Why do you enjoy watching traffic?" - Bill Maher
"LA Traffic" - "MAD TV"
"Homer Simpson - Lousy Traffic Jams!" - "The Simpsons"
And driving has consequences:
"The Driving Boom is over."
"Many young people would rather bike or walk than pollute their planet. .... The share of licensed drivers ages 20-24 dipped
from 87 percent in 1995 to 81 percent in 2021. In the 25-29 age group, the share of licensed drivers slipped from 95 percent
to 88 percent.
"Increasingly, this country is moving more and more into urban areas where it's perfectly easy to get around without a car,"
said Robert Foss, director emeritus of the Center for the Study of Young Drivers at the University of North Carolina."
"Americans Driving Less. The Question Why Is Still Unsettled" - Bacon's Rebellion (2013)
"Gen Z Isn't Interested in Driving. Will that Last?" - The Washington Post (2023)
FREE TRANSIT SYSTEMS ARE WORLDWIDE
"National City Lines" - Canadian Public Transit Discussion Board Documentation (CPTDB)
LETTER: Martin Luther King Jr. and Uriah J. Fields, Uriah J. (Montgomery Improvement Association) - "To The National City
Lines, Incorporated"
Transit Agencies and Service Development in the Baltimore Region
Highway to Know-Where
In order to understand what system we must have again, as Baltimore already had a complete electric transportation system,
we first must learn how we fell in love with the automobile.
"Rock-A-Charleston ~ Flapper Flip" - Annette Funicello
SEEK: BUS & AUTO
"Public Transportation May Be Better Than Driving: The Heart-Healthy Benefits Of Taking A Train Or Bus"
"Active Transportation: Creating Spaces That Promote Active Living: - The American Heart Association (AHA)
WALK A LITTLE "Walking your way to better health? Remember the acronym, 'FIT'" - American Heart Association
"Sidewalk" - Celia Bullwinkel
"Planning = The professional practice and academic study of the future of built and natural environments - from the smallest
towns to the largest cities and everything in between." - Planetizen
STREET = A passage of destination designed mainly for pedestrians, creating neighborhoods, and offering highest value of space
allotted. Transit and automobiles can travel, and sometimes park. There are sidewalks on both sides where residential, and
commercial buildings and mix-use (the oldest form of use) are found. There are many cross streets, usually of same width.
They give the sense of space - like an out-door living room that is accessible. Some examples; to play board games, eat
outdoors, and even dance. Offers a complete neighborhood - community place. It is a complex environment, at human scale,
where life in a city or town happens.
THOROUGHFARE = A passage that is only to get to another part of a city or town, or a completely different city or town. Also
called: Arterials, Arteries, Carriageway [British], Expressway, Freeway, High Road, Highway, Interstate, Pass, Pike, Route,
row, Thruway, trace, Turnpike, Way. Depending on city or town: Avenue, Boulevard, Heights, and Parkway are also used, but
more often for Stroads. No pedestrians or transit stops allowed. Only express buses allowed. Thoroughfares, Highways....
destroyed many neighborhoods; forcing people to soullessly sell their houses to the city or town, for the concrete way, and
if any neighborhood left over, visually dividing them in half, often with no access, no pathway to get across.
ROAD = A high speed connection between two places. For safety, wide and forgiving lanes disrupt cars from bumping into each
other. Attention is made to make them as straight as possible, with wide curves to make driving gentle. Large signs, often
above, are so fast speed drivers can read. Entrances and exits are few to keep automobiles at fast speeds - minimizing travel
time. Rare to find a sidewalk.
CLEAR ZONE = the small lane next to a road, obstacle-free in case of emergencies.
STROAD = A hybrid street and road. It is a street that is designed as a road, failing to be good at either one, and massively
expensive. Many entrances and exits to houses, especially businesses, found far in distance due to highway-sized lanes and
long driveways. Common are stroads that used to be streets in nature, but name of size and stature has not been changed by
local government: Drive, Way, Avenue, Boulevard, Way, and even, "Street." Stroads, especially converted streets create many
dangerous points of conflict, missed turns to where you wanted to go, cars coming out of their driveways, and especially bicycle
riders signaling, only to be crashed into. The commercial property is set back, prominently showcasing its automobile parking
capacity. Their business signs are huge, out of kilter with even the wide stroad. Little green space and essentially
treeless for shade, little esthetic beauty, in other word; ugly, and no one wants to spend time at the stroad. They
often have clear zones, but rarely a sidewalk, and so, with high speeds and lack of pedestrian walkways, stroad place-destroying
makes entire environment hostile to pedestrians, often risking lives to get to places, even to a rare bus stop.
EUCLIDEAN ZONING = Separating use of land by purpose: residential, commercial, retail, industrial, recreational.... Frequently
associated with development patterns of suburbia. Most common form of controlling interests zoning code - a local legal tool
for controlling the uses and development of land, in the United States.
| BALTIMORE REGION PLAN - 1968 - 54 YEARS - WHEN???? |
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| BALTIMORE REGION PLAN - 1968 - 54 YEARS - WHEN???? |
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| Daniel D'Oca Illustration: "The Arsenal of Exclusion" |
| BALTIMORE REGION PLAN - 2002 - 20 YEARS - WHEN???? |
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| BALTIMORE REGION PLAN - 2002 - 20 YEARS - WHEN???? |
"Valetine Lupez: Get to Know One of San Francisco's Cable Car Gripman" - NBC Bay Area
Mobility
Three Main Principles of Sustainable Safety:
1. Humans make errors in traffic. It's the way humans are.
2. The government is responsible for making sure that the design of the street minimizes impact from those errors; and the
design of the street should reflect this - safety.
3. Safety of street is for government to design the streets to that affect. [Throughout the Netherlands, you can feel what
kind of street you are on, by the feel of it, and its characteristics.]
4 Types of Streets:
1. Residential Roads
2. Neighborhood Arterial Roads
3. Higher Arterial Roads
4. Highways
"Traffic vs. Transportation Engineer: What's the Difference?" - Byron Tang, Traffic Engineer (2022)
"Traffic Engineers Gone Wild: Why Interchanges and Intersections are Getting Worse, Not Better" - City Nerd (2022)
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"Baltimore City has much higher asthma rates than other counties in Maryland and that asthma is a severe health problem
in Baltimore."
- "Asthma and Air Pollution in Baltimore City" - Environmental Integrity Project
"One hundred years ago, the public transportation system in the United States was envied by much of the world. Many cities
had robust electric tram lines, while steam locomotives and boats transported goods and people around the country. Today,
however, effective transit systems are hard to find outside of major cities, and even urban areas struggle to provide reliable,
connected services. ....
While city planners across Europe began working to preserve existing transit systems and expand them into developing suburbs,
the United States did not take the same approach. In fact, some cities chose to destroy existing transit systems—ripping
out streetcar lines and building highways to speed up commutes from the suburbs."
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