TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

It is past time for us to seriously deal with climate change and not deny it because of money. We must take responsibility and find ways to redirect our energy systems to clean technologies. Transportation is a major cause of greenhouse gases and we need to combat this with clean energy buses, trains and even planes.
What are we leaving to our children and grandchildren? They should be thankful for what we have accomplished not curse us for the mess we have left them.

Dear TCI,
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
I would like to see incentives for going electric on all transportation vehicles. Electric cars and trucks (18 wheelers included).
Electric mass transit (trains with power lines connected as in Europe. and electric busses).
Electric charging infrastructure.
Thank you!

The eastern states who have jointly committed to reducing greenhouse gases should be lauded for the work and planning they have already done. They also need as much technical, financial, and educational assistance as possible to undertake the next bold steps in reducing greenhouse gases. I urge anyone involved to carry on with my support. Anyone who has not yet commited to changing their own transportation habits, join the team! And to those not yet on board, shame on you! Take your heads out of the sand and look at the hard facts. Then join forces with all who are working hard to reduce the worst effects of climate change. You'll be glad you did!

Despite what Trump believes, this planet is in the midst of a human caused climate crisis. Thus, we need to move away from fossil fuels as soon as humanly possible. This means making electric vehicles affordable to the average consumer and providing the necessary infrastructure for charging said vehicles. It also means improving our crumbling infrastructure and expanding mass transit. In addition, this means electing a president who, through the power of the people, can bring about these necessary changes on both a national and international level. In my view, that means ensuring that Senator Bernie Sanders not only wins the Democratic primary, but also the general election. He is the only one who truly understand that it takes creating a movement of millions of people to bring about real change. Bernie understands that real change never happens from the top down, but from the bottom up. Bernie has been working to create this movement since 2016 and has had great success. So, please do everything you can to ensure that Bernie is our next president.

Sincerely,
David Lazarus

Too much woodland has been destroyed to accommodate more and bigger roads. Too many cars are on the road and far too many single passenger vehicles because America has not made public transportation a priority. In Charlottesville, too many busses run only once an hour, making it impractical to use the bus system. The argument is that not enough people use the bus; if the buses were easy to use, many more people, like myself, would be happy to use them. Bus stops are also difficult to reach. The closest bus stops to my house are half a mile away, or more. I cannot reach two of them because it requires walking along a road with only a very narrow shoulder and no sidewalk. This should be a priority, not new and bigger roads, and more parking lots.

I support all TCI efforts to reduce and mitigate fossil fuel consumption, including stopping sprawl and tree removal, planting trees; encouraging alternative energy sources, a enacting a large carbon tax, putting tariffs on products from countries who waste fossil fuels to produce goods.
Put reuse before recycle. In sum everything that helps to reduce escalating climate change

Transportation 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.

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:

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

Opponents of the Transportation and Climate Initiative have been flooding a public comment page on this plan with negative comments. I am sending these comments to support the Initiative and show there are people that understand the critical need to change how transportation needs to change in the United States.

We need environmentally-friendly public transportation to help combat pollution. Plus, the smell of the exhaust from buses can be horrible.