TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

I attended the Oct 24 Transportation Climate Initiative workshop at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. While I support transitioning automobile commuters to mass transit in order to reduce congestion and emissions, I am concerned about the effect of a drastically rising price of gasoline on working populations in our peripheral communities where people must commute to Boston for a living wage. TCI's mechanism -- raising the cost of gasoline for distributors and transferring the proceeds of fees on distributors to local communities -- will not prepare mass transit infrastructure for when it is needed, when automobile commuting suddenly becomes uneconomic due to the engineered price rise. For this, the State must invest in alternative mass transit now, before gasoline prices are artificially raised. Local communities cannot wisely invest in regional mass transit alternatives because it is above their level of operation: only the State can do this. The price rise in automobile commuting will disproportionately hurt lower income earners, for whom commuting costs are a higher ratio of earned income. This would not be a problem if reasonably priced mass transit alternatives existed. However, commuters in areas not served by MBTA commuter rail may not claim private express bus expenses on their Massachusetts income tax as a commuting expense. MBTA does not grant these private express bus commuters a free transfer to the Boston subway and bus system, as it grants to its own MBTA commuter rail commuters. Yet private express bus service is the only transportation alternative available to many suburban commuters who will be forced out of their automobiles by a TCI-engineered rise in gasoline prices.
TCI's mechanism must be analyzed economically by an objective, outside oversight body. While computer modelling is a useful and fun intellectual exercise, it does not replace serious economic analysis by professionals. Without serious preparation, policy changes and pre-investment in regional mass transit, TCI will devastate the working people of peripheral bedroom communities, reduce demand for our housing stock and force more marginal earners into metropolitan Boston, where high urban rents will further squeeze those on marginal incomes. I ask the Legislature to step in and exercise oversight over TCI.

Thank you for accepting my personal views, which do not represent the views of any official body. I am copying my response and sharing it with my State legislator.

Stop burdening tax paying citizen with more taxes that do little or nothing to better the lives of ordinary taxpaying citizens.

Do not create more taxes for others to parasite off those who drive gas powered vehicles.

Start your low carbon initiative with China and India before you attack myself and other Rhode Island Taxpayers.

It is critical that we drastically reduce pollution from transportation as they are the largest source of global warming emissions both regionally and nationally. I request that Rhode Island formally join the plan to reduce emissions. I further request that the plan include a strong component of equity through prioritizing clean investments in areas overburdened by pollution and/or for those who don't have access. I further request that both flexibility and sustainability get prioritized so that technological advancements be implemented in such a method that aging doesn't lead to avoidable pollution but instead to recycling solutions and/or additional technological implementations. I am grateful for the "can do" attitude and the bipartisan nature of this project.

I support TCI because transportation is the largest source of carbon emissions - adding to asthma and heart disease and costing millions of dollars in extra healthcare costs. Less fossil fuels coming into Rhode Island will mean cleaner air and better land use around the Port of Providence. I want better public transportation options for me and my family, a connected, more vibrant community, and the opportunity for economic growth and new jobs. Rural communities need more public transportation options and the current transportation status quo is hurting overburdened communities especially hard.

I wish to give my strong support to your effort to limit carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gas) producing forms of transportation. This must be done as quickly as possible as we are now facing our final chance to put any kind of brake on a complete climate failure. I strongly support both intracity and intercity forms of public transportation that would accomodate this. This means public subsidy for these types of transit and a long overdue decrease in the subsidies provided for highway and bridge construction and maintenance. Certainly electric light rail and intercity rail would qualify for this subsidy but also the replacement of fossil fuel powered buses with electric buses should also qualify. Perhaps even more stimulating to this transition would be the replacement of rider fares with free ridership funded by all levels of government through the same mechanisms that have funded the highway industry for decades. Free ridership not only would stimulate increased use of public forms of transport but would also produce an economic equality benefit.
We know this would come at a considerable cost but if the cost of a complete breakdown in the climate as we know it is factored, these subsidies will save far more than just dollars.

"AUGUSTA – Governor Janet Mills is negotiating a multi-state agreement that could sharply increase the cost of gasoline and diesel for Maine people, and Mainers should take the opportunity to weigh in with their comments, says a group that advocates for Maine’s taxpayers and consumers."

As the people in the State of Maine are already the 3rd highest taxed population in the nation, and because Maine's economy is still struggling (even after the tremendous advances made by Governor LePage) the last thing we need is an increase in taxes based on junk science about climate change! These political scares about the impending devastation of our planet have been circulating for more than 120 years, and they are no more credible now than they were back then.

This a a good idea but we need bigger ideas like planes, cars, trucks, etc. Climate change is going to be devastating and we are doing too little and to late.