1. Do you bike in New Mexico? Describe your experience biking for transportation and/or recreation.
I bike occasionally with my family. We enjoy it tremendously. We look forward to more trails.
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.
Ideally, we want jobs to be closer to where they live so they can spend more time with their
families and less time commuting. Albuquerque has many challenges with regards to
transportation because of a lack of a central hub. We need to find creative solutions with town
centers and infrastructure developments that support residents being able to walk, bike, and
utilize public transportation.
3. What are the biggest barriers to getting people to choose walking, biking, and public transit instead of personal vehicles for daily trips, and what would you do to address these impediments?
In addition to infrastructure challenges, it’s about changing peoples’ habits, particularly in young
people. Bicycling is efficient and fosters good health outcomes. Programs like free public
transportation are also ways to appeal to people who have the opportunity to travel via public
transportation to take it.
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 New Mexico, and in particular the New Mexico Department of Transportation, do to improve traffic safety?
We must coordinate with local law enforcement to create tactical plans and remedies to slow
traffic down. We need to work with engineers to make the roads safer. Ultimately we need better
lighting, better spacing, and more respect for pedestrians and bicycle traffic. Part of the $1.6
million that I helped allocate to Bosque restoration is dedicated to improving and creating new
bike and walking trails.
5. The New Mexico DOT is currently pursuing a pair of projects related to Interstate 25, following the South I-25 Corridor Study that calls for the widening of Interstate 25 in Albuquerque from Sunport to the Big I, to 8 lanes from the current 6. Do you support urban freeway widenings, or how would you prefer NMDOT enhance transportation options in this corridor?
I support this project for safety reasons and because it’s a gateway to our city for airline
travelers. We need modern infrastructure. But it should have components to allow bicycle,
walking and scooter traffic to travel safely, either through frontage roads or lanes for these
travelers exclusively.