TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Dear policy developers,

Thank you for all your work on this project thus far. It's exciting to see plans for improving transportation and public health and reducing our fossil fuel use.

My two concerns are with implementation. Firstly, how will you mitigate the the disproportional cost borne by lower income people and people who live in areas not well served by public transportation? How will you assure that they are not adversely affected in such a way that they are not feeling that they are bearing the brunt of the cost? The yellow vest folks in France reacted to this very issue.

Secondly, what accountability will there be for investments in infrastructure? It would be a shame to have delays or have projects that result in inefficient outcomes. I am thinking of the tent city disappointment in Boston, where urban renewal projects took away affordable housing and negatively affected pre-existing communities and promised replacement housing but did not follow through on the bargain.

The devil is in the details, isn't it? I applaud the aim of making the policy flexible. It is fantastic that states are working together to address the vital issue of our quality of life. We can't do this soon enough. I wish you all the best in your work.

Sincerely,
Christine O'Neill

I would urge Governor Scott to support the TCI.

The impacts of the climate crisis are getting more profound. We have a responsibility to our grandchildren to take meaningful action now. Joining with other states involved in TCI will reduce transportation emissions in a way that will keep us economically competitive with our neighboring states and create structures to to meet stricter goals than we would did not join. If we don’t join we will lose the economic benefits but we will continue to be in the same markets as states who are involved in TCI. Although Vermont actions such as increasing EV charging stations are important they would not have the same impact As joining TCI.

There many seniors living in Bellows Falls, VT senior housing facilities. Many no longer drive and depend on calling for rides with local organizations. People living in close access to town shops, library, post office, grocery stores can not walk very far so they take their cars. If we invested in small electric scooters with convienent baskets on them I think a town the size of Bellows Falls could cut down on our carbon footprint quite bit. Personally I would buy a scooter and use it in good weather rather than my car. I could charge my scooter at home however those living in housing would need charging stations and parking space.

A tax is a tax no matter how it’s disguised. Trying to slide this thru or past the voters in Massachusetts without those voters having a say at the ballot box should not be allowed, put it to a vote and let the voters decide.

Transportation should be available to everyone regardless of the ability to see or walk or hear. Make sure getting around and aboard easier. Not more difficult.

Governor Mills lied to get elected and she's lying now to get what she wants. I have no respect for anyone who prioritizes their personal agenda while deceiving the ones who trusted her to look out for their best interest. Our tax dollars are being spent recklessly and illegally as if it is her right to do so and now, she has gone incognito with the more controversial items. The end of your term cannot come soon enough!

Queen of Maine mills has found perhaps another way of scamming the good people of Maine of hard earned money. Turning this great State into another California is not what the people here want.

Hardworking Mainers can not afford the fuel hike that Governor Mills wants to impose. Outside of Cumberland County, the majority of Mainers are rural. That means driving distances just to get to work. Myself, I live in Belfast and used to have to commute to Bangor every days, a 40-mile 1 way trip. When Bush was in office and gas hit over $4 per gallon, I was forced to change to working 4 10+ hour days instead of 5 8-hour days just to save on the gas costs.

Governor Mills wants to send us back to those days, when people have to choose between paying for the gas to keep getting to work or paying other bills. It's unreasonable, and unwarranted. This is not California. The Democrats in the Portland area are NOT representative of Maine itself. This must NOT be permitted.

TCI is needed to both improve the transportation infrastructure in Maine and to aid in the necessary transition away from carbon-fueled private transportation. We will need much more low or no carbon mass or public transit to enable Mainers to adapt to a changing ecology. It is tempting for older adults (I am 80) to have only a short term view of the future, but our imagination must take us to fully consider the world our grandchildren and their families will inhabit. An adequate adaptation to climate change must begin now in all phases of our lives.