Open Letter to the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board
The Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition (BTEC) has in the last year seen a disturbing increase in the intensity of demands for reductions and/or cancellation of transportation services in member jurisdictions of the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board (BRTB). In the most sensational and most newsworthy of such instances, these demands have been found to have been based on unsubstantiated claims falsely alleging an invasion of criminals, drug addicts, the homeless, and violence-prone youth into Anne Arundel and Baltimore Counties by way of light rail and buses in the Baltimore Link system. Common to the most alarming of these baseless claims is the thinly-veiled accusation that African Americans, the majority in the ridership of the buses and light rail, are to be feared, particularly when traveling outside the boundaries of Baltimore City.
Should these schemes succeed, the impacts on the workforce and the economy would be devastating. Over 8.1 million boardings were tallied on the Light Rail Train last year, with 864,000 of those boardings reported in the four stations in northern Anne Arundel County alone. Is anyone at BRTB concerned? Why has BRTB been silent?
Most prominent among the provocateurs exclaiming these racially-coded allegations are duly elected representatives acting as if completely dismissive of their responsibilities to their constituents and to the equal access mandates of BRTB. These mandates are to be found in the provisions of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act requiring compliance by all agencies, including BRTB, engaged in the oversight of any and all transportation services and programs receiving even one dollar in federal funds as do the Light Rail Train and Baltimore Link bus network.
Anne Arundel County Executive, Steve Schuh, is the 2018 Chair of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC). BMC is the host and staffing agency of BRTB and knows well the federal legislative mandates under which BRTB operates. Why has BMC been silent?
In his capacity as County Executive, Mr. Schuh knows well his obligations to promote equal access for all to all transportation services in the region. Yet, he pursues his campaign of race-based provocations despite evidence that there is no foundation for his claims of a “new crime wave” in Anne Arundel County associated with the ridership of the Light Rail Train as documented in the mainstream news media.
Baltimore City’s Mayor, Catherine Pugh, is currently Chair of the BRTB and is represented on the BRTB by the Baltimore City Director of the Department of Transportation. Nevertheless, neither BRTB nor BMC have shown the leadership expected and deserved by the region’s residents including all transit riders and particularly the Mayor’s constituents in the City of Baltimore whose access to transportation services has been threatened without their knowledge, but with the added, reprehensible indignity of racial stereotyping.
The Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition demands to know, “When will BRTB and BMC do their jobs?” We demand to know, “Who will stand up for Baltimore and prevent a race-based transit policy wall from being built around the City?” We demand to know, “When will a regional leadership conference on equal access to all transportation systems within the purview of BRTB assure that each member jurisdiction adopts appropriate measures making equal access to transportation an enforceable, bedrock principle?”
Will the BRTB meet our demands and provide answers to our inquiries at or before their meeting of December 18, 2018 or will they attempt to demonstrate to all in the region that they can ignore us, all of their regional constituents, and their duties under Title VI as they have done to date?
We demand equal access to transportation for all! So, does the law!
Samuel Jordan, President, the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition (Samuel.Jordan@msn.com) October 23, 2018
https://www.moretransitequity.com/
Sierra Club's Reaction to Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition Open Letter
Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition’s recent open letter to the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board highlights many glaring instances of transit not reflecting the wants and needs of the public. This letter is a compelling demand for fair transportation free from discrimination and provides a necessary response to government agencies that are not listening to the people they are supposed to serve.
As the letter points out there is an attack on public transportation services in Anne Arundel, and Baltimore County, in conjunction with racist rhetoric associated with African Americans commuting to predominantly white residential areas. Politicians have expressed their baseless claims about public transit like Anne Arundel Councilman John Grasso who stated that riders use the light rail to “rob the people, [and] hop on the train back to Baltimore City” , but the County Executive’s office says there is no evidence of a crime wave associated with the light rail.
The false narrative that public transit is bringing crime and danger could not be further from the truth, as research shows that public transit can actually reduce crime in areas along the routes. This has been the case in recent studies surrounding light rail development in Charlotte and Vancouver showing that public transit also provides job access and can lead to business investment along the metro stops.
BTEC’s letter also points out that the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board’s policies are actually in violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Title VI mandates that federally funded projects, such as the light rail and Baltimore Link, need to provide equal access to their constituents. This issue continues to follow a long history of environmental injustice and discrimination where communities of color are denied access to job opportunity and isolated in communities being polluted by vehicles. Without action from the public and groups like Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition, the government will not be held accountable for their discriminatory actions. Through voting and putting pressure on elected officials we can make change happen and create a fair, sustainable transit system for everyone.
Kieren Rudge
Beyond Coal Intern
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(1) Board, Baltimore Sun Editorial. "Ugly Prejudice and the Light Rail." Baltimoresun.com. August 02, 2018. Accessed October 29, 2018. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-0729-light-rail-20180726-story.html
(2) Billings, S. B., Leland, S. and Swindell, D. (2011), The Effects of the Announcement and Opening of Light Rail Transit Stations On Neighborhood Crime. Journal of Urban Affairs, 33: 549-566. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9906.2011.00564.x
(3) Gallison, Jordana K. (2014), The Line of Crime: Dismantling Fears and Concerns of Crime along Vancouver SkyTrain’s Canada Line. Security Journal, 29, 3: 485-500. doi:10.1057/sj.2013.42.