Keith Bernard

School Committee, Ward 7

Q1. How do you primarily get around? Where do you walk in Malden? When and where was the last time you biked, traveled with a person with mobility impairments, or took public transit? What is your evaluation of your own experiences traveling in Malden outside of a car?

I currently drive primarily, due to time constraints and work and family responsibilities. When able, I prefer to walk, ride or take the T to get to work. Malden is a very walkable city, but I have frustrations with the conditions of our sidewalks and pedestrian crossings. I love the bike trail, and would like to see more connections to other areas of Malden as possible.

Q2. Name at least one concrete action that you think Malden can and should take within the next two years in order to improve the safety of streets and sidewalks for people not in cars—e.g., pedestrians, bicyclists, people with mobility assistance devices, people with disabilities, and children playing. Limit your answer to interventions which are possible entirely at the municipal level.

Better enforcement of our speed limits and traffic regulations, especially around our schools, is an immediate fix, given our current budgetary issues. Other options would be to set up bicycle “buses” or walking groups to get kids back and forth to school, implementing speed mitigations like clear signage and speed bumps, and I’d like to see an audit of curb cuts as a number of our sidewalks are not ADA accessible. If money were no object, I’d also like upgrades to our crosswalks and crosswalk signals, such as audible notification and moving towards walk symbols versus the red/yellow signals or “Walk/Don’t Walk” which might be tough for our non-English readers.

Q3. What, in your view, is the city's role in making Malden a community where more people are encouraged to get around easily and conveniently by foot, on bicycles, and on public transit? Name at least one concrete action you would take to make Malden a leader on this issue. Given that more than 40% of carbon emissions in Massachusetts are from transportation, how will your actions in this area support Malden’s sustainability and green energy goals?

I have more of a concern around the heat islands that stretch down Eastern Ave, and the public housing. I’d like to see things like regular shutting down of streets, especially during festivals, or community celebrations like Porchfest, with shuttle buses running between sites. Wherever possible, I’d like to see more bike stations like we have next to Kierstead. We’ve had a mixed history with bike rentals, but the Blue Bikes have been a huge success, and we should have stations on or around our parks, bus stops, schools and commercial areas.

We also need to look at encouraging electric cars and build more charging stations outside of Malden Center. We have tons of renters who cannot install chargers at their apartments currently, so I’d like to incentivize small landlords into providing them or providing more public charging as possible. Finally I think we need to look alternative methods of increasing our green spaces, like encouraging roof top gardens or laws, or covered parking areas that also have something similar or solar panels. These aren’t thing the school committee can do, but I always try to advocate for better solutions.

Q4. Malden families don’t have the opportunity of relying on school buses. They also aren’t guaranteed their closest neighborhood school, and school drop-off traffic is one of the most persistent congestion challenges in the city. How will you help families who want to get their kids to and from school without relying on a car?

Do we need to have more bike lanes, crossing guards, and less parents driving their kids to school? Absolutely, but we need to get buy-in from everyone to make smart decisions as to location and investment. The bike lane on Willow Street makes complete sense as it is a safe pathway between the Ward 7 neighborhoods and Salemwood, plus access to three parks. The multiple bike/bus lanes down Center St, Exchange St, Dartmouth and Florence Streets do not and seem haphazard with no overarching plan. Future bike routes need to have public meetings and clear signage, and we need to encourage the MBTA to put more routes in that use the bus lanes. If need be, we can have commuter times when the bus lanes are exclusive, like Broadway in Everett and off times where cars can use them, during overnights.

Q5. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation provides a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program. This program works to increase safe walking, biking, and rolling among elementary, middle, and high school students by using a collaborative, community-focused approach that bridges the gap between health and transportation. Do you support implementing community practices promoted by SRTS such as Bike Buses and Walking School Buses to help children get to school?

Yes. As I've mentioned above I want to encourage all alternatives to getting our students safely to and from school which can be, at times, the most dangerous due to the levels of traffic and congestion. We need multiple solutions, with buy-in from the entire community to successfully achieve this goal.