Polling: What Baltimore Area Voters Say about Transportation
The Central Maryland Transportation Alliance and Rails to Trails Conservancy conducted a poll of registered voters in Baltimore City and Baltimore County from April 17 to May 1, 2024 via an online survey. (The sample size was 750, with 500 responses from Baltimore City and 250 from Baltimore County. To understand attitudes in zip codes where trail facilities are proposed, 50% of the 500 city respondents were from zip codes 21217, 21216, 21230, 21218, 21225, 21223, 21224, 21205, 21239 and 21251, and quotas ensuring respondents reflect the Baltimore population’s overall age, gender and ethnicity were in place.) The poll’s theme was transportation, and questions addressed topics including trails, bike lanes, highway expansions, road maintenance, buses, and trains. The poll’s findings shed light on how city and county voters feel about transportation issues.
Going into the primary elections in May, many people we talked with expressed concerns about a perceived backlash against government investments in infrastructure for anything other than more driving. The City Council had held hearings about Complete Streets where the testimony was contentious, and, at times, emotional. Some people expressed opposition to walking and biking infrastructure, such as trails and bike lanes. Some people questioned how we can pay for the construction of the Baltimore Red Line as state officials continue to plan it.
But the poll results tell a different story and may help explain why most voters voted for candidates who express support for increased investment in train, bus, biking and walking infrastructure.
1. Infrastructure for walking, biking, and riding transit is popular.
Across question after question majorities of the voters polled indicated support for investments that improve walking, biking and/or riding a bus or train.
· 79% say it’s important to have trails in your neighborhood
· 71% say it’s important to run MTA buses every 30 minutes or better
· 64% say bike lanes benefit people
· 58% say they’d be more likely to vote for a candidate who prioritizes trails
· 55% say it’s important to build the Baltimore Red Line
The support was strong across age groups, racial identities, and income levels. The support for bike lanes was stronger among non-white people than among white people. 64% of Black respondents say bike lanes benefit people and 74% of Latino respondents agreed.
What’s more, the poll found overwhelming support for the Baltimore Greenway Trails Network with only 4% of respondents opposing across all racial identities. Support was strongest with Latino respondents, with a mere 2% opposing the project.
Majorities in Baltimore City say it is important to “Increase the number of dedicated bike lanes in Baltimore City” and to “Build the projects in the Baltimore City Bicycle Master Plan.”
2. Voters want a change in spending priorities.
We asked voters how they would allocate a hypothetical $100 budget across six categories of government spending on transportation. On average, the voters polled wanted much more balanced spending whereas state and local leaders consistently spend disproportionate amounts on highway expansion.
3. People typically get around using a variety of transportation modes, especially in Baltimore City.
We asked people how they typically get from place to place and asked them to select all modes that apply. Respondents indicated they use a variety of modes.
4. People said they would choose to walk or bike for more trips if there were more destinations nearby.
We asked voters which of a list of factors would make it more likely that they would choose to walk or bike to get around and asked them to select all that apply. The top responses were “More destinations within a 10-minute walking distance” (40% of respondents) and “More destinations within a 20-minute walking distance” (37% of respondents). “More destinations within a 20-minute biking distance” and “Protected bike lanes” were also in the top five (31% of respondents for each). The emphasis on nearby destinations is a reminder that transportation is about getting where you need or want to go: school, a job, a grocery store, a medical clinic, a park, a friend’s house, a restaurant, etc.
Some neighborhoods feature more destinations nearby than others. Government choices influence how many destinations are nearby. If zoning prevents building walkable places with stores, restaurants and housing close together, then it causes less biking and walking and more vehicular traffic.
If governments invest more in widening roads and highways than in trains, buses, bike infrastructure or sidewalks, then it causes destinations to spread out over a wider area. Zoning to allow apartments, condos, offices, stores and restaurants, greater investment in sidewalks, bike infrastructure, and public transportation, and less investment in widening roads and highways will increase opportunities to live close to destinations and get places by walking or biking.
5. People, especially higher income people, say widening roads and highways relieves traffic congestion over time.
We asked how much respondents agree or disagree with a series of statements about widening roads and highways. 69 percent of respondents said they agree that widening roads and highways relieves traffic congestion over time.
This is noteworthy because there is overwhelming evidence and decades of experience demonstrating that widening roads and highways in fact increases traffic congestion over time because people drive more and fill the roads. Here is a useful summary.
According to an analysis we did using data from the Texas Transportation Institute, between 1982 and 2011, the Baltimore region increased highway capacity to 1,561 lane miles — a 76% increase. During that time, the region’s population grew from 1.7 million to 2.5 million — a 48% increase.
Freeway expansion far outpaced population growth meaning there were more lane miles per person. But despite each person having more road space, congestion got worse. Congested lane miles increased from 31% to 58%, and the annual hours of delay per auto commuter more than quadrupled — from nine hours a year to 41 hours a year.
The annual cost of congestion increased from $96 million per year to $1.5 billion per year. And U.S. Census Bureau data show that, at least until a pandemic-driven increase in telecommuting, the average commute time in Maryland has continued to increase each year.
Why? Because more lane miles, and the accompanying auto-dependent development, meant people were compelled to drive more. And we haven’t provided many other transportation choices. In the Baltimore region, the Maryland Transit Administration hasn’t built any new high-quality, rapid transit since the Light Rail opened a generation ago.
It is also worth noting that there was more agreement with the statement among higher income people than among the population as a whole.
We hope that these poll results help shed light on what is on the minds of voters when it comes to transportation.
