View Public Input on TCI-P

Rural areas continue to lack funding for transportation and the county in which I live, Augusta, is a prime example.

Emissions, from a wide variety of vehicles which account for nearly half of Virginia's carbon output, are a huge driver of climate change, while also emitting toxic air pollution that falls disproportionately on low-income populations and communities of color.

The Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P) is a positive and welcome step forward to addressing this major source of pollution. The program will spur needed investments in a modern, sustainable transportation system. These investments could put more electric vehicles on the road in Virginia along with equitably distributed charging infrastructure across the state.

The TCI-P also presents the opportunity to direct investments in a cleaner transportation system in the communities that have suffered the most from vehicle pollution. While the model rule calls for at least 35 percent of TCI proceeds to go toward frontline, impacted communities, here in Virginia I would hope we go above and beyond that benchmark to at least 50% of TCI revenue in programs and infrastructure that will lower this disproportionate pollution burden.

It is my hope, as well as my plea, that this important framework moves forward for the good of our climate, our health and our future.

I urgently believe that the Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P) is necessary to address our key regional sources of pollution. With each governance innovation, we must better steer our public and private investments to creating an efficient, better, truly sustainable transportation systems.

As our region's transportation emissions are a huge contributor in our changing climate, we can address nearly one-half of Virginia’s carbon output. We need environmental justice principles embodied in strategies that address toxic air pollution that falls disproportionately on low-income or politically disconnected populations.

We must use the funding provided by the TCI-P to help with ongoing efforts to put more electric vehicles and infrastructure in play in Virginia along with equitably distributed charging stations across the state.

We must target a higher attainable goal, beyond the model rule - for at least 35 percent of TCI proceeds going toward frontline, impacted communities. The TCI-P can drive investments in a cleaner transportation system in the populations and communities that have suffered the most from vehicle pollution. Let's invest at least half of our TCI revenue in programs and infrastructure that will truly lower the disproportionate pollution burdens on our people.

Thank you for soliciting and analyzing these comments and engaging the public on this critical measure. We must meet the moment for our collective health and future.

There is NOTHING else more important than protecting the air that we breathe and the planet on which we reside. Human beings can change, but to do so, we must put aside greed and selfishness, and make solid changes that protect the Earth and all its inhabitants, great and small. In other words, we must EVOLVE. Transportation must change. Fossil fuels are endangering our welfare, our air, and our lands. We need clean cars, we need better public transportation, we need to get dirty automobiles/trucks off the roads, and increase investments in an equitable, cleaner, and more resilient transportation system. The transportation sector accounts for HALF of Virginia’s carbon footprint, making it our largest contributor by far to climate change, thus, here is where we must begin to change. I hope that the human race is smart enough to act on this. This is our future.

Efficient mass transportation is an important part of a climate conscious future.

We enthusiastically support the adoption of TCI-P by Virginia and other states in the region. TCI-P is a win-win proposition that will improve air quality and people's health while generating revenue to help participating states speed the transition to a clean-energy economy. And it will help us leave a livable environmental to our grandchildren and theirs. Transportation is the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Virginia and the region, and the source of dangerous particulates that exacerbate health problems like asthma, especially for those near major roads, which often include lower income and minority communities. To solve these problems we need to move to a clean transportation system and a clean-energy economy, and TCI-P will greatly help Virginia and the region do this. For its immediate air-quality and health benefits, and its enduring climate benefits, we strongly urge the prompt adoption of TCI-P throughout the Mid-Atlantic and New England region. The time to act is now.

I support a strong TCI-P Model Rule that (1) ensures meaningful climate action to address Virginia's largest driver of our climate crisis, (2) directs significant investments to correcting historic inequities in overburdened and underserved communities; and (3) affords Virginia the opportunity for a cleaner, healthier transportation system.

I call for the TCI-P Model Rule to include (1) a minimum investment amount to ensure overburdened and underserved communities in Virginia receive a greater-then-proportional share of investments from the program, (2) integration of air quality commitments across Virginia, and (3) robust empowerment of Virginia's Equity Advisory Body.

The Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition supports a strong TCI-P Model Rule that (1) ensures meaningful climate action to address Virginia's largest driver of our climate crisis, (2) directs significant investments to correcting historic inequities in overburdened and underserved communities; and (3) affords Virginia the opportunity for a cleaner, healthier transportation system.

We call for the TCI-P Model Rule to include (1) a minimum investment amount to ensure overburdened and underserved communities in Virginia receive a greater-then-proportional share of investments from the program, (2) integration of air quality commitments across Virginia, and (3) robust empowerment of Virginia's Equity Advisory Body.