Newsroom

Over the last several months, BMC helped organizations in the region procure much needed personal protection equipment (PPE), including masks, gloves, cleaning supplies and more. Through a cooperative purchasing agreement offered by BMC and W.B. Mason, local groups have gained access to affordable PPE when they needed it most.

Registration is Live for Bike to Work Week - September 21-27, 2020.

The Baltimore Metropolitan Council (“BMC”) officially launched its Baltimore Regional Recovery Dashboard to help policymakers understand and track the impacts of COVID-19 on the seven county metropolitan area. Hosted on BMC’s website, the dashboard features data from across the organization’s areas of focus, including unemployment claims, impacted industries and transportation ridership. The dashboard utilizes Tableau, a data visualization tool, to provide information in an interactive format.

During the recent Firefighter Safety Stand Down week, June 14 to 20, BMC staff member Eileen Singleton worked closely with Patrick Rooney, MDOT SHA CHART Operations Training Manager, to hold 13 sessions of a 1-hour Traffic Incident Management refresher course. The courses, originally scheduled to take place in person, were instead virtual in response to the global pandemic.

The Baltimore Regional Transportation Board (BRTB), as the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the Baltimore region, seeks public comments through Friday, July 17 on a part of the Patapsco Regional Greenway in Howard and Baltimore Counties.

​​​​​​​BMC staff are proud to participate in the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) ‘Walk the Watershed’ event this year. Throughout the month of June, our team will work toward a goal of traveling 200 miles in support of a healthier waterway. This target represents the approximately 200-mile-long Chesapeake Bay. Staff will also seek donations on behalf of CBF as an element of this campaign.

BRTB considers approval of the draft 2021-2024 Transportation Improvement Program and the associated Air Quality Conformity Determination

BMC’s Director of Cooperative Purchasing, Debbie Groat, authored an article for the Maryland Public Purchasing Association (MPAA) Newsletter. In the article, Groat, who also serves as Chair of the Cooperative Purchasing Subcommittee for MPAA, details the changes in operating procedures for cooperative purchasing post COVID-19. The article examines the shifts made in cooperative purchasing to meet the needs of the region during a time where demand was overwhelming.

BMC’s Housing Policy Coordinator, Dan Pontious, joined Delegate Brooke Lierman, Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, Public Justice Center Attorney Charisse Lue and VP of Pennrose Properties and president of the Maryland Affordable Housing Coalition Ivy Dench-Carter for a May 28 discussion on housing Marylanders during and after COVID-19.

BMC staff works with stakeholders from member jurisdictions to support regional emergency preparedness programs coordinated through the Baltimore Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) and by the Baltimore Urban Area Homeland Security Work Group (UAWG). In response to COVID-19, our emergency Preparedness team sprang into action to support local jurisdictions during the crisis.