Creating Safer Streets
Safe streets are important for everyone, but particularly impact children and youth. Maryland is in the top 10 states for pedestrian fatalities among youth ages 12-19. In the last five years, drivers have hit 292 teens in Montgomery County. In addition, 78 cyclists were involved in traffic crashes in Montgomery County in 2025, 17 of those crashes were fatal. We need to promote safe driving practices, ensure equitable access to public transit, and create safe environments for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists of all ages.
What Allison is going to do about it.
Allison will promote public transit and street safety as a member of the County Council. The RideOn system is one of the first free bus systems in the country, which is fantastic for Montgomery County. However, in Gaithersburg, in talking with residents (and based on her own experience) it does not generally take people where they need to go, increasing our reliance on cars. District 3 has the second highest rate of residents without access to a car in the county, only behind District 4 (Silver Spring area). A well-designed public transit system will reduce traffic, make it easy to get around, reduce our impacts on the climate, and make this a healthier and more desirable place to live. County residents in Silver Spring can easily live without a car or with fewer cars in their household, but up-county communities do not experience the same amenities like access to transit, sidewalks, or bike paths/lanes, while paying the same county taxes.
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Allison will push for transit equity across the county. She will urge RideOn to add bus lines that better meet the needs of riders, not the more grid-like convenience of planners. That means finding ways to get people from where they live to where they work, commute, and shop. She will also advocate for sidewalks and safe places for people to bike, to ensure that kids and adults can more safely participate in healthy outdoor activities and that short distance commuters can safely get to work without adding to traffic and parking burdens.
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Allison will also push the county to take traffic violations more seriously. While the skills of Maryland drivers (or lack thereof) is a common joke around the region, traffic accidents and deaths are serious and drivers need to be discouraged from continuing dangerous driving practices that risk injuring and killing our children and neighbors. Traffic enforcement needs to be taken seriously in order to make our streets safer for everyone.