1. Albuquerque has the second deadliest streets of any city in the US, with approximately 110 people killed by vehicles each year while walking, biking, or driving, and another 6,500 people injured. How important is it to you that Albuquerque maintain and act on its commitment to the Vision Zero goal of zero fatalities from traffic violence?
Vision Zero is personal for me. My brother is an avid cyclist in Albuquerque, and I worry for his and his friends’ safety. My brother lost his best friend in a cycling accident a few years ago. It’s very important to me that Albuquerque maintain and act on its commitment to Vision Zero.
2. In 2019 Albuquerque updated its Complete Streets Ordinance to support safe and efficient street design for all users. What are the biggest remaining barriers to getting people to choose walking, biking, or public transit instead of personal vehicles, and what would you do to address these impediments?
We have a lot of bike lanes and bike paths in Albuquerque, but a city isn’t truly bikeable or walkable if the paths and lanes don’t connect to each other, and don’t go to the places you need to go. If there’s no real way to get to the post office on your bike, you won’t bike to the post office. I want to work with advocates to design a comprehensive plan to make Albuquerque truly bikeable.
Part of that is also public transit. It has to be easy to connect from bike to bus and back to bike, and our public transit system leaves a lot to be desired. We need to begin by making buses clean and secure, whether with cameras, security personnel, whether the zero bus fare program continues or not. Buses need to run on the main lines more frequently and regularly. You’re not going to ride the bus to Target if you’ll be stuck there for hours. You have to know the bus will come every half hour. We need ridership to increase, first before we expand bus routes.
3. ABQRide remains severely understaffed, with motorcoach operator vacancies more than double their pre-pandemic numbers despite severe reductions in service. Other facets of our transit system, including mechanics and stop maintenance, are also understaffed. What is your plan for filling the staffing shortage at ABQRide?
Understaffing is an issue across the board at the city, affecting all departments like–police, fire, ACS, and Planning. Pay and benefits are an issue - we need to make sure ABQRide pays competitively with similar public sector entities. Then we outcompete on the benefits package by offering more paid time off, more flexibility in scheduling, more parental leave, and other benefits like tuition reimbursement.
Driving buses is stressful and essential work—they are responsible for safely transporting passengers to their destinations, and they face a range of potential hazards and difficulties in their daily work.
4. What is your plan for increasing housing supply in Albuquerque, particularly along useful transit corridors and near popular amenities? How do you plan to increase housing availability without requiring the occupants of those houses to own a car to participate in most aspects of city life?
Housing affordability is a major issue in our community. We need more housing, and especially mixed income housing. Half of ABQ residents are rent burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing, and more than a quarter are severely burdened, meaning they spend more than 50% of their income on housing. We also know that rent-burdened households have higher eviction rates, which contributes to rising homelessness.
I support transit-oriented development that promotes mixed use development, high density housing, and walkable communities around transit corridors. I believe that If developers are receiving any city funding or support they need to be required to include some affordable units–and not just limit it to studios and 1-bedrooms.
5. Albuquerque’s urban areas have limited space on streets. In order to increase safety and improve mobility, some modes of transportation must be prioritized over others to make the most of this limited space. Please rank how you would prioritize different modes of transportation on city streets, using numbers 1 through 7:
1. Walking and devices that aid people with a disability
2. Public transportation.
3. Bicycles and Scooters
4. Freight and Delivery
5. Personal automobiles
6. Ride hailing services
7. Parking