Baltimore has a new curbside-dining policy with a goal to make outdoor dining permanent, but it comes with a cost for restaurants. The Baltimore City Department of Transportation said that since the program's inception in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic indoor dining restrictions were in place, diners have embraced the trend of eating outside. As a result, the city is working to make outdoor dining permanent by enacting policy to formalize construction standards, permit-holder responsibilities and safety improvements for diners, pedestrians and others on the road.