Otis Rolley III, president of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, hopes the incoming mayor understands that for any city, transportation issues are critical and far-ranging, touching people's lives in dozens of ways.

"It can really be a catalytic investment in terms of transforming Baltimore," says Rolley, formerly Baltimore's planning director and chief of staff to Mayor Sheila Dixon.

Rolley would urge Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake to use her office as a bully pulpit to improve bus service.

"Over 30 percent of Baltimore doesn't own a car," he says. "People are literally and figuratively stuck."

She also must ensure that the new fleet of buses for the Charm City Circulator run as smoothly and look as clean and enticing as people expect.

"We need to transform the way people look at the bus system ... so they don't see the buses as something for 'those people,' but something for all of Baltimore," he says.

Rolley would want Rawlings-Blake to push developments built around transit hubs, to make it easier for residents to leave their cars at home.

He'd want her to continue to lobby for the regional rail plan and make sure potholes are filled and traffic lights run in sequence.

HER RECORD

Rawlings-Blake has not made transportation a campaign priority.