TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Re Massachusetts:
The legislature should be the one to vote on this measure, not the governor. We are not paying the governor to make approve bills unilaterally. We pay the legislature for this function, so they can be held accountable.

Partnership for the Public Good is a community-based think tank with over 290 partner organizations. Many of our partners are concerned with both ecological justice and transportation issues. We have released several reports on these issues. Buffalo faces significant challenges when it comes to public transit. Over 50,000 households in our region lack access to a car, yet over half of the region's jobs are NOT accessible by public transit. Improving public transit in our region is imperative for promoting economic development, reducing racial disparities, fighting poverty, and decreasing air pollution. As part of your planning process, we implore you to incorporate a more robust busing system (more buses, more routes, and more frequency) as well a suggestion to expand the light rail through the east side of Buffalo to the airport. This addition will take advantage of existing public right of ways to make our public transit more accessible and efficient. We also ask that New York State reexamine its funding structure to more equitably fund WNY public transit.

Under No circumstances will you raise the gas tax. Especially for a fashionable climate initiative. Quite frankly, I think this is just a rouse to finance the billions being spent on the MBTA.
You should be ashamed of yourselves.

I wish to make known my opinion that the TCI Initiative is a mere end run around established law to gain what amounts to another tax,which has already been refused by the voters.And takes control of said tax away from the voters,you may not have my permission to remove my given rights.

Any increase in fuel prices would be disastrous to the Massachusetts commercial fishing fleet. The earth has increased in temperature 0.8 degrees Celsius since the 1800s. Charging working families more for fuel will do nothing to change the earth's temperature, but will take money away from our families and lower our standard of living.

I strongly oppose this new tax; and more so the means/scheme by which it is being attempted to be implemented. This matter warrants higher visibility for all taxpayers to consider.

It is critical to look at, and act on the Climate Emergency from a holistic perspective. Transportation is an important sector to address, so is access to the local food system. Food Hubs are one solution to address food and transportation together. Funding from TCI could help support the creation of food hubs based on population density, demographics and relationship to food producing areas. Food Hubs that are decentralized but well planned shorten distance of travel from production of food to consumer, thus reducing miles traveled and fuel used. Hubs become spaces for building relationships, strong communities and encourage business enterprise development (i.e. value added products, or incubator accelerators). Hubs could be placed near population centers, thus addressing issues of food access and social equity. Food Hubs that prioritize regenerative, organic and soil building agriculture businesses can help accelerate soil as a carbon sequestering, or carbon drawdown opportunity. Food Hubs are a good investment for both reducing carbon use, capturing carbon, and supporting business development and community health and well being.

Taxation, fees, and restrictive regulations are the wrong way to stimulate innovation. Positive incentives are much more effective and likely to achieve new ways to improve environmental performance. The notion that there is an urgent environmental crisis is not born out by the facts. This truth is becoming more and more clear. Our environment has been continually improving since the 1950s. People are made of carbon and people are the solution to continued environmental progress not the problem.