Category: Biking in Baltimore

Under Armour CEO calls on city businesses to contribute
By Justin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun

Officers in the Baltimore Police Department’s Southern District will have new computers, bikes and other equipment thanks to $300,000 in gifts from three benefactors, who hope to spur donations from city businesses in other districts.
…
Still, police say they need better equipment to fight crime, and the gifts from Plank, Krongard and developer Jack Luetkemeyer will buy … eight bicycles, …

Krongard, a Baltimore County resident, said judging the city by its homicide rate is "stupid" and that Baltimore needs to do more to improve the quality of life for average residents.

Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said Locust Point and Federal Hill, where many of Under Armour’s employees live, can expect to see new initiatives as a result of the money, including increased bike patrols.
…
Continue reading “Police in South Baltimore get $300,000 for new equipment”

https://bikeman1.com/index.html

Today, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced the official launch of Baltimore’s new 311 Mobile App. The service allows citizens to report service requests from an iPhone or Android smartphone. The first edition of the mobile app has over fifty different service requests to choose from, including complaints about trash, potholes, graffiti, and malfunctioning traffic signs.

“The new 311 Mobile App allows citizens to have real-time collaboration with their government,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake. “If you see a pothole, graffiti, or a broken streetlight, you can see it, shoot it, and send it to us—we have an app for that!”

The free smartphone application automatically pinpoints the location of the reported problem by using Global Positioning Satellite technology. Allowing the user to attach a photo and the exact location to the service request will give the City-dispatched crew a better idea of what equipment and tools to bring in order to fix the problem the first time. Reports made to the system can be anonymous, and citizens can track the status of their requests any time with the new mobile app. When the repair is completed, the city will notify the person who reported the issue.

In 1996, Baltimore became the first city in the country to provide a 311 Call Center to answer police non-emergency calls and free up 911 lines for emergency situations. Since then, 311 has become a vital tool for communicating with residents on all City services, ranging from potholes to bulk trash, and most recently sand bag pickups and downed trees. Baltimore has aggressively used data from 311 in conjunction with CitiStat to drive efficiency in service delivery and to improve the deployment of resources. The new 311 Mobile App is a giant leap forward in Baltimore’s ability to connect with residents, promote transparency, and be responsive to the way citizens want to interact with their government.

Continue reading “Citizens can send pictures of potholes, graffiti, or trash from smartphone.”

from Greater Greater Washington by David Alpert and Andrew Bossi

Allstate released a report yesterday ranking metropolitan areas by frequency of car collisions. The Washington region came out dead last, [and Baltimore came in next to last] spawning headlines like "DC has worst drivers in America."
…
What’s wrong with jumping from crash frequencies to conclusion that Washington area drivers are the nation’s worst? It puts the blame or credit all on the drivers, rather than the road designers, licensing authorities, and police enforcing the laws. It also treats all crashes from minor fender bender to fatality the same.
…
Allstate ranked areas based on the average time between claims per driver. If we adjust these numbers to equalize vehicle miles traveled per capita, then Maryland comes out with the fewest collisions. So this story could easily have also borne the headline, "Maryland drivers the best in the nation." Are they the best or among the worst? We don’t really know enough to say.
…
************************************************************************
[B’ Spokes: Wait, what? Whether we live in sprawl or a dense urban environment we all do the same day to day stuff. So what if Maryland spends and extra 20 miles (or whatever) per day doing the same stuff everyone else does with fewer miles and that makes us safer?

Vehicle miles traveled is really just a scam to justify expressways, nothing against expressways but they don’t make other streets safer, they just let us travel farther and that’s about it. It comes down to doing day to day things that everyone else does and for Washington and Baltimore that means a higher frequency of crashes.

Note: WABA is using this for a call for safer streets:

"We have no interest in assigning blame here. But being the worst in the nation is a rather strong indication of a problem, and we are asking Mayor Gray to raise the priority of roadway safety and start working toward a solution."

https://www.waba.org/blog/2011/09/how-will-district-respond-to-worst-drivers-report/ ]
Continue reading “Are Washington’s [and Baltimore’s] drivers really the worst?”

[B’ Spokes: Just a reminder that federal safety money helped make this possible. Pedestrians involved in traffic crashes, Baltimore City represents 32% of the state. Yup, accommodating speeds of up to 180 mph is going to help that a lot. [/sarcasm]]

---

From the City Paper – The Mail

I’m in total agreement with the letters of both Charlie Cooper and Tom Chalkley that the Rawlings-Blake City Hall’s bet that the Baltimore Grand Prix will be a money maker is wishful thinking (“Race to the Bottom Line,” The Mail, Aug. 24). A much more forward-looking investment would have been to upgrade all our major streets for bicycle traffic. Establishing Baltimore’s reputation as the mid-Atlantic’s most bicycle-friendly place to live would have enticed the growing, upwardly mobile, bicycling-to-work population that’s out there to put down roots here and become solid, tax-paying citizens for decades to come. Unfortunately, it seems, City Hall has chosen to remain mired in backwardness and poverty.

Herman M. Heyn
Baltimore
Continue reading “Prix Fix”

From Parks and People:

The winner of the Cannondale Hooligan prize. She donated to WTMD https://wtmd.org/radio/ while the Light Street Cycles offer was on.
Continue reading “We have a winner”

[B’ Spokes: Beside Baltimore being a collage town note in the “What you can do.” Get social by joining one of the bike rides advertised in Looking for Local Riders and of course just getting on the bike for fun and exercise works as well on our many bike routes.]

---

[B’ Spokes: Something to bike too.]
*********************************************

Thursday, August 25 · 7:00pm – 8:30pm

We’re celebrating another successful season of Flicks From The Hill with the city’s BEST Happy Hour(s)! $10 gets you "All-U-Can-Enjoy" Beer provided by AVAM’s Official Beer Purveyor: MAX’s TAPHOUSE! Hang out in our Tall Sculpture Barn and Wildflower Sculpture Garden; pop into the museum (it’s OPEN & FREE before the flick); pop back out for another cold one; and, of course, stay for the 9PM screening of The Pink Panther! Cost: $10 (benefits AVAM).

American Visionary Art Museum
800 Key Highway
Baltimore, MD
Continue reading “FLICKS Closing Night BEER GARDEN!”