TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

I applaud this initiative, especially if it encourages the development and expansion of public transportation, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and non-carbon electricity production. I am a bit concerned that the "affected fuels" are limited to diesel and gasoline, while the topic of what fuels might be used to generate electricity to power cars and buses has been left unaddressed. I'm by no means an expert, however, and I applaud this as a good first step. We need to move away from the car culture that was carefully cultivated beginning in the 1950s, and anything that helps with that is welcome progress indeed. If this is seen as a first step, I'm all in; however, more needs to be done.

I take commuter rail and the subway to work five days a week. I would love to see more cars on some of the peak schedule trains on the Fitchburg line. I would also like to see more frequent weekday evening trains. Generally, whenever I attend a professional meeting in Cambridge or Boston on a weekday evening, I end up taking Bus 70 home, because my journey falls between the wide gaps in the night train schedule. I understand some cities have smaller commuter rail trains with electric engines that run more frequently to better support non-peak times. Collecting ridership analytics on every train on every commuter rail line would help guide this.

I'm asking you to design a regional low-carbon transportation policy proposal that would cap and reduce carbon emissions from the combustion of transportation fuels through a cap-and-invest program or other pricing mechanism… [and]… to complete the policy development process within one year, after which each jurisdiction will decide whether to adopt and implement the policy.”

We need clean transportation. Just taking cars off the road and placing the occupants on trains and busses is a step forward, but putting these commuters on busses and trains that run on clean energy is a giant leap forward. We wouldn’t just be reducing pollution from gas powered cars, we would be eliminating it!

New York and other eastern states must cut the pollution coming from current transportation systems, to help cut global warming and all the negative effects it is having on climate change. All feasible alternative energy sources must be considered and we need to encourage our colleges and universities to work on new innovations to reduce power usage, reduce pollution and increase use of efficient mass transportation.

As a Maine resident, I am worried about the threats to our state and citizens from climate change such as sea level rise and air pollution. Our transportation system is old, dirty and inefficient, and it is the largest source of climate emissions and health-damaging localized air pollution in Maine. Moreover, the money that Mainers spend on oil and gas ($5 billion) goes to the fossil fuel corporations outside of the state, not benefitting our economy.
I applaud Gov. Mills's participation in the Transportation and Climate Initiative regional design process. I am delighted that this is a bipartisan effort and hope that the latest scientific advances are included in the planning. Rural Maine does not have much in the way of public transportation, so most rely on driving themselves or asking for transport help from friends, thereby adding to the amount of vehicular pollution and wear and tear on the roads. More public transportation options such as electric buses or trollies, safer and more options for cyclists and walkers, incentives for the purchase and charging of electric vehicles - all of these would be healthy and equitable improvements for our citizens, while retaining monies for our state economy. An increased use of internet access to enable patients to attend appointments remotely would help, too. We certainly do not want to hurt the low income folks in our state in the process of trying to fight climate change; they are suffering enough already.

I am not willing to pay more at the pump or to heat my home. This is a regressive tax and hurts the poor . I want to be free to choose the mode of transportation that is best for my family. Maine is such a rural state and most areas have no public transportation because of sparse population.

I care about what happens to the environment as much as anybody else does but not everyone who drives into Boston for a job makes over $100,000 and can afford to pay extra money for gas . They already went up on the tolls and when is it going to stop ? When I can't afford to drive to work anymore