OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Annapolis Transportation Committee Meeting - April 8, 2026

City Council — Wednesday, April 8, 2026
BodyAnnapolis, Maryland
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, April 8, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:36:41

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

About to start our regular meeting of the transportation committee.

0:04

A little past four, but it's okay.

0:06

At this time, we'll have a roll call.

0:09

Alderman Savage.

0:12

At present.

0:13

Alderman Sandomater Meyer Meyer.

0:16

And I am the chairperson, Janice Alsip Johnson Alderwoman.

0:23

At this time, we're gonna change the just the um change in the agenda.

0:29

So do I have the approval to make that change?

0:32

Um, well, let's have the motion to uh change the agenda, please.

0:52

Uh you don't need the you don't need to need motion.

0:57

This is a new order of the agenda.

0:59

And then after you describe it.

1:03

First on our agenda is gonna be ID 1126, followed by ID 752.

1:14

Madam Chair, I'd make a motion to approve the agenda.

1:18

Appreciate it.

1:19

I will second the motion to approve the agenda as amended.

1:22

Thank you very much.

1:24

So at this time.

1:29

Have a vote.

1:31

Aye.

1:32

Aye.

1:33

All in favor.

1:34

Aye.

1:34

Aye.

1:35

Thank you.

1:36

Thank you, all the minutes for approving.

1:48

Transportation department update by director of transportation.

1:54

Approved minutes first.

2:35

Okay.

2:36

Can I make a motion to approve the minutes from March 11th?

2:41

I will second.

2:47

All in favor.

2:50

Thank you, all the persons who made a motion.

2:54

Now takes on the agenda.

3:01

Is ID 1126 more from the Transportation Department?

3:08

Will you please come forward?

3:12

Please introduce yourself and state your name and your job title.

3:30

This is crazy.

3:42

Alderman Shandelmeyer and Savage.

3:45

For the record, I am Marcus Moore, Director of Transportation and Parking.

3:50

I have a few updates I'd like to share with you today.

3:53

Um, and we'll hear from a few of other of our partners in parking and um someone a staffer uh with a dot about some upcoming events I think will interest you.

4:05

On Saturday, April 4th, Saturday, April 4th marked the season launch of our free all-electric trolley service.

4:14

Uh these trolleys operate on Saturday and Sunday only from 11 a.m.

4:18

to 5:30.

4:19

They operate on two distinct different um two different routes identified as the Maryland Avenue, State Circle, Calvert Street Loop, connecting the three garages nearby, which is the Calvert Street Garage, Whitmore Garage, and the Gotts Court Garage.

4:36

Um they connect those with the local businesses on State Circle, Maryland Avenue, and Lower Main Street.

4:41

The other route is a new one, and it's the one that we just started on Saturday, removing the one that was in Eastport.

4:49

We'll talk a little bit about that reasoning and rationale.

5:00

This new route actually starts at Park Hillman Garage, goes up Main Street around Church Circle, down State Circle, and down through down back towards our main street for market space and all.

5:11

What we want to do here is try to connect the businesses on City Dock, you know, with some free service coming along with our magenta shuttle.

5:21

So when we looked at making these changes, I provided for you some ridership data of what we had for last year on the shuttles.

5:29

The two shuttles, we just named them the West Street Shuttle and the Eastport Shuttle.

5:34

And you can see for about uh 14 months or so what it looked like as far as ridership with a graph and all.

5:41

And I actually gave you the numbers that showed how many were carried on those particular Saturday or Sundays.

5:48

And the line that you see there, the blue line represents uh the the uh West Street and the orange line will represent the Eastport shuttle.

5:58

One of the things to keep in mind about these routes, they are pilot services, and we want to move them around to where they can have the best use for what it is we want to do.

6:07

And basically that's connecting our residents, our visitors with downtown businesses, and as we may mention with um City Dock, trying to get folks down there because obviously there's not uh much parking uh closer than Hillman and um further out, we're still connecting them with the Magenta Shuttle and these uh weekend trolley services.

6:31

Also provided in that packet, you'll find the map, and it kind of describes the route that is being taken.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Transportation Safety████████████████████████████████32%
Active Transportation████████████████████20%
Parking Management██████████████████18%
Public Transit████████8%
Procedural███████7%
Technology and Innovation███3%
Community Engagement███3%
Engineering And Infrastructure██2%
Procurement██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Annapolis Transportation Committee Meeting - April 8, 2026

The meeting of the Annapolis Transportation Committee was held on April 8, 2026, commencing shortly after 4:00 PM. The committee reviewed updates on the city's free all-electric trolley service, bike share and e-scooter RFP, parking operations, and the Golden Pass pilot. Key discussions centered on route changes, ridership data, and plans for future mobility initiatives.

Consent Calendar

  • The agenda was amended to reorder items (ID 1126 first, then ID 752) and approved unanimously.
  • Minutes from the March 11, 2026 meeting were approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments or testimony were recorded.

Discussion Items

  • Transportation Department Update (Director Marcus Moore):

    • The free all-electric trolley service launched for the season on Saturday, April 4, 2026. Trolleys operate Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM on two routes: the Maryland Avenue/State Circle/Calvert Street Loop (connecting three garages) and a new downtown route from Park Place Garage along Main Street to City Dock (replacing the former Eastport route).
    • Ridership data from the previous year (over ~14 months) was presented: The West Street/Maryland Avenue route averaged high ridership; the Eastport route averaged under 10 riders per day, with its best day at 15 riders. The change was made to better serve City Dock businesses as City Dock redevelopment proceeds.
    • The trolleys are limited to two vehicles due to battery capacity (requiring midday charging) and lack of HVAC, making them fair-weather only. The director noted plans to potentially add more carts in FY28 to re-evaluate Eastport service.
    • Discussion included hailing (no fixed stops, flag down like a taxi), headway (approximately 10 minutes, ranging from 8 to 13 minutes depending on traffic and lights), and overlap with the magenta shuttle. Committee members suggested experimenting with dual carts on a single route to test frequency impact, and possible marketing for seniors and mobility-challenged individuals.
    • Other updates: EV charging infrastructure at 308 Chinquapin Round Road expected to be complete by end of April; RFP for automatic vehicle locator approved by MTA and going to bid soon; FY26 transportation enhancements (Bay Ridge Avenue/Edgewood Road circulator and Forest Drive improvements) being developed with consultant KFH.

  • Bike, Pedestrian, and Micromobility Program (Will Rao, Micro Mobility Coordinator):

    • Bike Share and E‑Scooter RFP: The RFP due date was extended to April 24, 2026 (from April 4) to allow more vendors to apply. Three proposals received so far. Evaluation committee includes Eric Lashinski and Casey Ortiz. Scoring will emphasize safety, equity, integration with existing transit, data sharing, and lessons learned from the previous Bird pilot (e.g., docking solutions to prevent sidewalk clutter). The goal is to have bikes/scooters on the road by late spring/early summer 2026.
    • Access Annapolis Symposium: Scheduled for May 1, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Graduate Hotel. Keynote speaker Veronica O. Davis, author of "Inclusive Transportation." Panels on policy, safety, community experiences, trails, and evolution of transportation in Annapolis.
    • Bike to Work Week: Annapolis day is May 15, 2026. Meetup at 8:30 AM (likely moved to 7:45 AM) at Poplar Trail at Taylor Avenue, ride to Donner lot for a pit stop with coffee, giveaways, and partner tents (Bike Triple A, county, etc.). The city secured 150 bicycle helmets for distribution at events.
    • Committee members emphasized expanding the e-scooter program into county areas (e.g., to the mall and Riva Road) and converting on-street parking to docking stations. The director noted legal and jurisdictional questions to explore.

  • Premium Parking Update (Jason Parola, Market President):

    • Elevator and EV charger status: All elevators operational; final replacement part for an EV charger to be installed April 9. Garage washing completed April 8.
    • MVA/integration for drive-in/drive-out (gate-less parking): Still pending a decision from a processing group; city to provide missing data by end of week, with an answer expected by end of April. Committee noted public pressure and frustration over delays.
    • April mystery shop scored well (one minor issue: meter out of receipt paper).
    • Golden Pass Pilot: 30-day pilot (ended late March) had about 100 households express interest, but only 20 fully registered. Participants ranged in age from 62 to 93 (oldest born 1933), residing as far as Ellicott City and Baltimore. Feedback requested more advanced notice. Program may be re-launched as a longer pilot (May–July) with in-person enrollment help and possible age range adjustment (currently 62+). The city will also consider fee schedule implications to ensure it remains a pilot.
    • February occupancy data: 100% capacity days were due to snow-related free parking extensions (nearly two weeks). March occupancy back to normal: weekdays busy, weekends moderate.
    • March residential promo code usage: approximately $6,800 in parking comped for residents' two-hour free parking, with peaks at lunch and dinner hours.

  • Metropolis (John Kemp): Brief update that equipment for gate-less conversion at Gott's Court Garage and Knighton Garage had no hardware cost to the city; total signage/installation was under $50,000.

  • ID 7526 (Blue Mobility Manager Discussion): Postponed to May meeting due to speaker unavailability.

  • Transportation Board Update: No updates reported.

Key Outcomes

  • The agenda and minutes were approved unanimously.
  • The transportation department will provide a final report on the e-cart pilot this fall, including cost-per-passenger data and exploration of route/time experiments.
  • The bike share RFP evaluation will proceed, with committee members invited to submit questions for consideration.
  • The Golden Pass pilot may be extended to May–July 2026, with improved outreach and in-person registration.
  • The city will continue to work with the county on seamless e-scooter service across jurisdictional lines.
  • The next meeting will include action on ID 7526 and updates on MVA integration and the Golden Pass follow-up.

Meeting Transcript

About to start our regular meeting of the transportation committee. A little past four, but it's okay. At this time, we'll have a roll call. Alderman Savage. At present. Alderman Sandomater Meyer Meyer. And I am the chairperson, Janice Alsip Johnson Alderwoman. At this time, we're gonna change the just the um change in the agenda. So do I have the approval to make that change? Um, well, let's have the motion to uh change the agenda, please. Uh you don't need the you don't need to need motion. This is a new order of the agenda. And then after you describe it. First on our agenda is gonna be ID 1126, followed by ID 752. Madam Chair, I'd make a motion to approve the agenda. Appreciate it. I will second the motion to approve the agenda as amended. Thank you very much. So at this time. Have a vote. Aye. Aye. All in favor. Aye. Aye. Thank you. Thank you, all the minutes for approving. Transportation department update by director of transportation. Approved minutes first. Okay. Can I make a motion to approve the minutes from March 11th? I will second. All in favor. Thank you, all the persons who made a motion. Now takes on the agenda. Is ID 1126 more from the Transportation Department? Will you please come forward? Please introduce yourself and state your name and your job title. This is crazy. Alderman Shandelmeyer and Savage. For the record, I am Marcus Moore, Director of Transportation and Parking. I have a few updates I'd like to share with you today. Um, and we'll hear from a few of other of our partners in parking and um someone a staffer uh with a dot about some upcoming events I think will interest you. On Saturday, April 4th, Saturday, April 4th marked the season launch of our free all-electric trolley service. Uh these trolleys operate on Saturday and Sunday only from 11 a.m. to 5:30. They operate on two distinct different um two different routes identified as the Maryland Avenue, State Circle, Calvert Street Loop, connecting the three garages nearby, which is the Calvert Street Garage, Whitmore Garage, and the Gotts Court Garage. Um they connect those with the local businesses on State Circle, Maryland Avenue, and Lower Main Street. The other route is a new one, and it's the one that we just started on Saturday, removing the one that was in Eastport. We'll talk a little bit about that reasoning and rationale.

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