2024-02 Regarding the Placement and Implementation of Bicycle Lanes

Resolution 2024-02

 Regarding the Placement and Implementation of Bicycle Lanes

WHEREAS, accessible and reliable transportation is essential for the independence and participation of blind people and other individuals with disabilities in all aspects of society, including education, employment, and community activities; and

WHEREAS, in order to achieve the laudable goal of incentivizing and facilitating the use of bicycles and similar conveyances other than motor vehicles, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Montgomery County, and other jurisdictions in our state have begun to create more bicycle lanes on streets and roadways within their jurisdictions; and

 WHEREAS, the placement of bicycle lanes in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Montgomery County has, in many instances, impeded access by blind people, wheelchair users, and other people with disabilities and pedestrians to fixed-route buses, paratransit vans, taxicabs, and rideshare vehicles; and

WHEREAS, to be specific, bicycle lanes are often the closest lanes to the curb, even where there is a curb cut for wheelchair access, and are further bounded on the street side by parking lanes or even lanes of moving traffic, forcing the blind and other people with mobility issues to traverse the bicycle lane and then navigate through parked cars or moving traffic to board the above-mentioned conveyances, and often forcing them to do so while avoiding oncoming traffic because they cannot access the opposite curb; and

WHEREAS, in situations where the operators of vehicles try to aid their blind or disabled passengers by temporarily pulling into the bicycle lane to allow these passengers to board, they are often fined by law enforcement for improperly using the bicycle lane, thus discouraging them from accommodating their passengers; and

 WHEREAS, although bicyclists and other users of the bicycle lanes are required by law to yield to blind people using white canes or guide dogs and other pedestrians, they often fail to do so because they wrongly assume that their conveyances take priority over pedestrian access; and

WHEREAS, all of these impediments to disability access not only endanger the safety of blind people, wheelchair users, other individuals with disabilities, and pedestrians, but also constitute flagrant disregard for the rights of individuals with disabilities as enshrined in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Maryland White Cane Law, and other statutes; and

WHEREAS, the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) has a responsibility to ensure that the transportation infrastructure throughout the state meets the needs of all Maryland residents, including the blind and other Marylanders with disabilities: Now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland in convention assembled this eighteenth day of February, 2024, in the City of Towson, Maryland, that we demand that Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Montgomery County undertake a comprehensive review of the placement and implementation of bicycle lanes within their jurisdictions to ensure that these lanes do not interfere with disability access to fixed-route buses, paratransit vans, taxicabs, or rideshare vehicles; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we demand that the review process include meaningful consultation and collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland and with other stakeholders from the disability community; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we demand that these jurisdictions issue guidance to the law enforcement agencies that they oversee commanding their officers to respect the rights of blind and disabled pedestrians under the Maryland White Cane Law and other applicable laws; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon the Maryland Department of Transportation to issue clear, accessible, and implementable guidelines for the proper placement and implementation of bicycle lanes, or to amend any existing guidelines, prioritizing the facilitation of disability access and ensuring that future bicycle lane projects are designed in a manner that complies with the ADA, the Maryland White Cane Law, and other applicable laws and is safe, inclusive, and respects the rights of the blind and other Marylanders with disabilities, and also advising law enforcement agencies of the rights of people with disabilities and proper enforcement of traffic laws as it relates to those rights; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be distributed to the Mayor of Baltimore City, the County Executives of Baltimore County and Montgomery County, and the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation.