Testimony: HB 107: Better Bus Service Act of 2024

WABA supports HB 107 to prohibit stopping and parking in a dedicated bus lane and allow for greater bus lane enforcement.

You can view this document in PDF form here.

House Environment and Transportation Committee
Washington Area Bicyclist Association – FAVORABLE

February 1, 2024

Chair Korman and Committee Members,

Transit is the greenest, most equitable form of transportation for distances that are not walkable or bikeable. We must fully fund transit and do what we can to boost its speed, operating efficiency, and convenience.

HB 107, by prohibiting unallowed stopping and parking in a dedicated bus lane and allowing automated enforcement of bus lane use, stopping, and parking violations, is a step toward better transit. The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA), an advocacy organization with 1,200 Maryland members, supports this bill.

We note that the prohibition would extend to dedicated bus lanes in Prince George’s and
Montgomery Counties, where WABA is active, and would be similar to bus-lane enforcement provisions recently enacted in the District of Columbia, where we are also active and have observed a need for the type of enforcement that would be allowed by HB 107.

In our jurisdictions and about the state, bicyclists may use dedicated bus lanes, hence WABA’s special attention to HB 107. We encourage bicyclists to ride in bus lanes when safe, in particular when the speed limit is 25 MPH or less and bus frequency is moderate.

A look at curb-space regulations and management and at enforcement strategy and education and privacy concerns is in order, therefore WABA supports HB 107’s establishment of a Workgroup on Curb Space Management.

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association urges a Favorable HB 107 committee report and House floor vote.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this legislation.

Seth Grimes, WABA Maryland organizer
seth.grimes@waba.org

More about Maryland Legislation

WABA develops and advocates for state legislation to make bicycling in Maryland safer and more accessible and for state funding to expand Maryland’s bicycle network, working directly with legislators and Maryland Dept. of Transportation (MDOT) leadership and as part of the Bike Maryland coalition. We also work on broader road-safety, transit, and environmental legislation and funding, typically as part of larger statewide coalitions. The annual Maryland legislative session runs from January to April, but our work developing legislation starts the preceding summer.

We’re thrilled that several bills we worked on or supported were enacted in 2024, directing an MDOT Vision Zero Coordinator and public review process; the Better Bus Service Act, allowing bus-lane enforcement cameras (with bikes allowed); authorizing stop-sign cameras near schools in Prince George's County; and the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Memorial Act, addressing penalties for hitting a cyclist in a bike lane.

Our 2024 advocacy included unsuccessful efforts that we will likely pursue in future years. (It often takes years to pass a bill. ) These include a Great Maryland Trails Act, an E-bike Rebate and Voucher Program bill, and a bill addressing maintenance responsibility for sidewalks and bike paths along state roads. Another topic on our list for 2025 is contributory negligence, a prejudicial statute that says that if a crash victim is even only 1% at fault, then they are liable and may not recover (full) costs and damages from the party largely at fault.

More about Laws & Policy

WABA works with grassroots advocates at the local, county and state level to support laws and policies that make it easier and safer to walk, bike, and take transit. And we work to changes ones that make biking less safe, make it harder to build bike infrastructure, or that deprioritize the safety and convenience of people walking, biking, or taking transit.

In practice that means advocating for robust and transformative Vision Zero programs, enforceable Complete Streets policies, and funding for new infrastructure that supports biking, walking and transit.

Other regional legislative priorities include:

Reforming Contributory Negligence (passed in DC, in the works in Maryland and Virginia).
Getting rid of the Level of Service engineering standards in transportation decision-making.
Funding E-bike purchase rebates.

More about Advocacy

WABA fights for a region where biking, walking and transit are the best ways to get around.

We educate policymakers and organize grassroots advocates for to speak up for safer places to bike and walk; and for laws and policies that protect people who are walking and biking, reduce dangerous driving, and facilitate changes to the built environment.