TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

I believe that all states contemplating any gas tax increase must consider all the cost increases that would be generated. Such as shipping,gas fuel delivery,home heating services,mail,air travel,all service parts and most important grocery price increases. The states should inform the public that it is not necessary to preheat your vehicle prior to driving. Your vehicle will warm up in five to ten minutes faster at a normal speed. The senior citizens who are on a very strict budget will be effected the most, we do not get automatic increase on our retirement, as many of the politicians do. The public is sick and tired for being taken advantage of by the politicians who's salary is paid for by the citizen that elect them in the first place. Thank you, Bill

As someone who has always relied on public transportation, I have observed many different public transit systems in the states and cities in which I have resided. Of the TCI members, I have lived in PA and MD (in the Washington, D.C. metro area), and visited many others. There is a huge difference in the ease of getting around via public transit in bigger cities vs. smaller cities and towns, but all systems can certainly benefit from upgrades. As someone who is also deeply concerned about climate change and the future of our planet, I am also eager to see more states take the initiative to reduce carbon pollution while investing in ways to make getting around better for everyone.

It is imperative that we, as a society, strive for a zero carbon transportation framework ASAP. It should not be treated as a pipe-dream, but concrete efforts need to be made to attain this goal sooner rather than later, given that addressing climate change is a basic survival issue confronting all of us.

Once again the people of Massachusetts are NOT being represented by the self serving idiots that unfortunately have been elected to do so. This is nothing more than another shakedown of the people of this state. The total disregard of the laws is absolutely amazing by the greedy unlawful and deceitful thieves we have representing us. You should be ashamed of yourselves. You are nothing more than pigs wallowing in the crap that you have made this state overflow with.

Please don't do anything to raise the price of something as vital to the Maine people as gasoline. We are a rural state and many of us, my husband included, have to commute 20+ minutes to work every day. Higher gas prices, along with the necessity of commuting to work, would force many Maine families, my own included, to stay put instead of travelling throughout the state for vacations. Maine businesses and communities are so dependent upon tourism to bolster the economy. This implementation will hurt so many. I understand what you are trying to do, but this isn't the right way to do it at all.

We can't afford a gas tax hike. How many times do we need to say this or are they hard of hearing. Stop bankrupting the people of Maine. We're not Mass. or Calif. We don't have a bunch of tech jobs that pay lots of money. We're hard working Maine people. But we don't need this crap!

We are aware that ransportation is the number one source of climate pollution in the United States. That means it's time to totally reimagine the way that we transport people and goods.

The states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and the city of Washington, D.C., are working on a groundbreaking policy to modernize the transportation sector under the Transportation and Climate Initiative. As current residents of Pennsylvania, and expecting to be residing in Virginia by summer 2020, the issues of improving the regional updates and improvements of our transportation systems and options in this area directly concerns us.

In order for this regional plan to work, governors of these states and the mayor of Washington, D.C., must ensure that this transportation plan is bold enough to cut harmful transportation pollution at the scale needed to avert the climate crisis. We need a plan that holds large transportation polluters accountable for the pollution they create and invests in clean transportation solutions including:

More public transit and electric vehicle infrastructure in rural areas
Expansion of commuter rail, electric vehicles, and streets in the suburbs that are safe, walkable, and bikeable
Sustainable and equitable housing near transit and electric bus fleets in urban communities

We want you to know that we are among the citizens who want to see a bold and ambitious plan to cut transportation pollution in their state and in the region.
Thank you for your receiving and hearing our concern. Please do work on transportation options to cut pollution and protect our enviornment in our region!

I am writing with deep concern about the proposal put forward by the Transportation Climate Initiative.

The proposal outlines a program that will cap the sale of gasoline, tax it, and then require the revenue generated to be spent on new government programs and projects that will further reduce the sale of gasoline. Rather than use the existing motor fuel tax structure in the states, the tax has been intentionally proposed at a point of “prime suppliers” so that it will be hidden from consumers. I believe that the TCI planners feel that it must be done this way because if the general public knew the costs of this plan they would soundly reject this and other proposals like it. If the energy provided by petroleum to move people and goods in the economy is removed by reduced gasoline consumption, it either must be replaced by more expensive and less efficient forms of energy or the movement of people and goods must be reduced. Either scenario will have devastating effects on the economy in the northeast and will continue to push people and businesses away from these states.

Although this proposal has been pitched as a consensus document, in fact, it is not. There have been only three work sessions and less than a handful of webinars to solicit public feedback and comment. The framework is not ready for adoption by the states as too many points have not been clarified and fleshed out. No one really knows the full detail of the proposal. More outreach and public input needs to happen to shift this to a consensus. At the present, the framework appears to be a predisposed outcome. The general public in the member states has little or no knowledge of this plan to massively increase the cost of their transportation fuels.

I reject this framework – and I urge that the participating Governors be required personally to attend and hold public hearings throughout their states. This proposal will not achieve its goals. California enacted a similar program recently, and, by most accounts, their gasoline costs have skyrocketed while the environmental impact has had no true measurable benefit.

I believe I am in favor of Vermont participating. I think the downsides have been overblown, and , in my opinion , fossil fuels are so cheap that peope are not really taking conservation seriously. I make a living selling insulation so I'd like to think I understand what does (or doesn't) motivate consumers to behave responsibly