BikeABQ Candidate Survey
Adriann Barboa
Bernalillo County District 3 — Democratic Primary
http://adriannbarboa.com/
1. Do you bike in New Mexico? Describe your experience biking for transportation and/or recreation.
Biking is amazing. Before covid, I was an avid biker, I used to bike to work on occasion, and have always biked for recreation. When my kids were younger we would bike everywhere across the city and since I actually have always lived near a bus line I love that I can take my bike on the bus to get around, a thing I also taught my kids to do. We are a camping family, and we take our bikes camping because NM has some of the best bike trails and mountain roads to bike on. My district is the most densely populated in the whole state, which makes District 3 the perfect place to push strongly and budget for biking access and safety, walkable communities and public transit that works.
2. Describe your vision of a healthy, safe, equitable transportation system for the Greater Albuquerque Region and the roles walking, biking, and public transportation play in that vision.
Right now BernCo is approving our Comprehensive Plan that builds out our planning for the next 10 years. I was not satisfied with what was in the first draft for trails, biking and pedestrians, and ensured that the County was working with the City to collaborate on a plan that connects City and County paths, trails and public transportation. The County has for some time invested in and the plan continues to invest in increasing bike paths, trails that connect to open spaces and nature, I have been a strong advocate for the bike paths and bus routes to prioritize access to public services like our county behavioral health facilities, the UNM Hospital and our parks and libraries. When I started as a Commissioner in 2021 the City of ABQ was undergoing studies on bus transportation, I supported no fares for buses and have inserted county staff into those meetings where we were not invited to before. I am actively working to increase bus routes in County District 3, the most densely populated district in the state, as well as increased access for the south valley.
Together for Brothers is an organization I work closely with year round and always support their efforts to increase biking and public transit to meet the community need and decrease auto use/pollution. I partnered with T4B on a federal grant that is pending to increase their efforts.
3. What are the biggest barriers to getting people to choose walking, biking, and public transit instead of personal vehicles for daily trips in Bernalillo County, and what would you do to address these impediments?
I think the biggest barrier is having a public transit system that can support walking and biking. We need public transit outside of just central and we need public transit that runs later hours and more on weekends. I have been and will continue to push for that in the new City plan and in the budget for County.
I also think biker education goes a long way, I want to support bike repair and education throughout my district and the whole County.
4. New Mexico consistently has the deadliest streets of any state in the US, with approximately 400 people killed by vehicles each year while walking, biking, or driving, and another 12,000 people injured. What should Bernalillo County do to improve traffic safety?
Road diets and improving sidewalks and walkways across the County is important. I was able to prioritize funding to start the fix of East Central. Commissioner Collie, before me, had commissioned a study on east central, many items came out of that study for East Central that included a "road diet", putting medians and improving side walks, hawk lights and landscaping that has shown to help slow vehicles down and increase safety.
5. Bernalillo County’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:
My answers for now:
1. Walking & devices that aid people with a disability
2. Public Transportation
3. Bicycles and Scooters
4. Personal Automobiles
5. Ride Hailing Services (Taxi, Uber, Lyft)
6. Freight and Delivery
7. Parking
I admit I need more education, and know that I will always be a loud voice and actions for our roads to meet needs of people with disabilities and to increase safety.