TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Imposing a gas tax to help fund the fledgling MBTA is foolhardy and detrimental to families and tax payers of the commonwealth. The MBTA has been mismanaged and underperforming for decades. To think that a gas tax will fix this is foolish. Voters will remember the names that voted in favor. The ballot box will show how we feel, and you all will no longer represent the working, tax paying families of the Commonwealth.

Transportation is the number one source of climate pollution in the United States. That means we must totally reimagine the way that we transport people and goods.

All of us must ensure that any 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

Please support this initiative to modern our transportation system.

Thank you.

It troubles me that our legislature would attempt another tax increase in such a manner. I am strongly oppose another tax increase of any kind.

March 6, 2020
Testimony to TCI by Edward Olmstead
Thank you for your work on TCI to reduce emissions from the transportation sector. I strongly urge you to build on what you have so far developed.
Our current status:
The efforts to head off the continued destabilization and disruption of the global climate is woefully inadequate. There are many forces actively opposing taking action to stabilize the global climate including our own President and his administration. You are in a position to make improvements to the TCI and urge other states to do the same. A multi-state effort like this could have a significant impact on carbon pollution.
The change is too little:
The current proposals to cut transportation emissions by between 20% and 25% includes an expected 19% drop that we on track for in the next ten years. I urge you to set emissions goals that would be 20% to 25% in addition to the expected 19% drop.
I urge a carbon fee and rebate to residents:
The Transportation Climate Initiative seems to assume a cap program instead of a fee program. I urge you to reconsider this. Fee programs are much less complicated than cap programs making them much less expensive to run, more predictable, much more flexible to design for effectiveness and transparency including fraud detection.
Residents of the Commonwealth need help to adjust to green transportation:
Policies must address equity regarding access to public transportation, cost-effectiveness of public transportation, traffic congestion and its effects, the reduction of transportation climate emissions and related health impacts, impacts on access to new jobs, access to greener transportation options, and access to greener automobile technologies. TCI must clearly articulate how equity will be created for those most burdened by the adaptation to green transportation. I urge direct investment in green infrastructure in low income and other disproportionately affected communities.
Clearly and specifically use funds for carbon pollution reduction:
I urge you to take a position that money from this initiative should be primarily used for projects that reduce CO2 pollution and only a small portion of it should be used for adaptation to
climate change. While adaptation is important, carbon dioxide reduction is what addresses the underlying cause of climate destabilization.
Please take this opportunity to strengthen TCI so that it creates a road forward where human activity is not the cause of continual climate and environmental disruption. We can be leaders in this state, but you hold the key to creating a response that is proportional to the problem and which solutions are proportional to the action needed.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
Edward Olmstead

My colonial in Fairfield, CT went solar in 2012. I produce most of the power that I need each year........7,000 kWh per year. I was able to re-finance my mortgage to get the $12,000 to pay for the solar. I took money from savings, my kid's college education fund, to get the $10,000 for the Federal Income Tax credit on the solar system. The next time I filed my taxes, I got a check from the IRS and replenished the college fund. The solar paid off in late 2018 or early 2019. No more electric bill and thousands of dollars saved each year. The solar can last 40 years easy and NO maintenance and no roof leaks. Super Storm Sandy came 4 months after my solar was installed and no leaks and no movement and no damage to my roof or rafters or the solar panels, wiring or racking system.
My fist EV was leased through VW. It was an E-Golf and the savings in gas (no gas ever) paid for the lease every month and hardly any maintenance. It was fast and quiet. I pulled into my garage after work and plugged into the regular wall electrical socket and was full in the AM. Literally NO change to my monthly cash flow and I got a beautiful new car. BTW: so many bells and whistles!
My 2016 Chevy Volt PHEV (Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) now has over 95,000 miles and over 50% of those miles are all electric. My wife uses this car all weekend to shop and get her hair done and every morning she goes to the gym and no gasoline required.
The car cost $31,000 net.......not too terribly much more than the normal new car sold in USA! AGAIN, very low maintenance cost. AND, when the solar panels on my roof power my car, it cost me 42 cents to travel 25 miles. BTW: if gasoline was priced correctly, carbon/polluting pricing, it would cost ++$5 per gallon or per 25 miles of travel. BTW: The CT Green Bank has had an incredible special on the Nissan Leaf for years.......almost 50% off and no more gasoline to purchase and burn and very low maintenance!
Now, I did stay on the fossil fuel train when I went from oil heat to natural gas heat in 2012. I am not happy that I burn fossil fuels to heat my home. But the savings to my family every year is thousands of dollars and I guess the pollution is less.
The final phase is to put new stronger panels on my roof and get all electric heating.
The new insulation in my home was a no interest loan that is on my electric bill every month for 3 years.......$60 per month. I am pretty certain the cost savings in natural gas to heat my home and electricity to cool my home more than makes up for the $60 per month. After 3 years, I have no insulation installment payment and I just save.
I will be 60 years old when the insulation installment payments are complete and my energy bills will be very, very low. My gasoline bill will be very low too. I will prop up the economy because I will have more $$$$ to spend on things other than dirty fuels.
I have an electric bike and an electric one wheel that fills with sunshine from my solar.....they are so fun to ride/drive. It is so nice to NOT be in a car to go get dogfood at Stop & Shop. It is so nice to say HI to people along the way and blow past cars that are stuck at congested intersections and red lights. I loved my gasoline motorcycle but my Raleigh electric bike is much better for my health and the Planet's.
I hate being a radical ass but....... if we made a law in Connecticut that every car on State or Federal highways and byways (from 6 am to 10 am and 3 pm to 7 pm) must have 2 people in them. The pollution would be half and the congestion would be half. In an instant!
With FB and tweets and insta whatevers, social media..........people can find ride-shares in a millisecond and never, ever be put out. The costs of the morning and evening commutes would tumble......more money for people to spend on other things. More people would chat on the way to work and this World would be a better place.
And talking radical.......no more selling of fossil fuels or the engines that burn them. The economy would thrive. Jobs would be everywhere. Clean factories would be built in the great american Naugatuck Valley and the middle income jobs would be double what they are today.
Capitalism would do it's thing.
Laws are what drive change and once changed, people won't ever look back and they will wonder why they spent thousands of dollars a year polluting the air and water and reducing their own life expectancy and that of their children.
I sell solar panels and clean battery back up generators and EV charging stations. I love the space I am in and saving people money and the Planet at the same time.
The technology is here now and the time is now.
Thank you.

I am very interested in seeing:
1 - safer bicycle lanes, preferably with concrete separating the lane from the road. Unfortunately, Northeast drivers are so aggressive that painting a line on the pavement is not enough to protect riders. I live in New Haven, and safe lanes that run out to neighboring towns (Hamden, West Haven, maybe even Guilford and the shore towns) would be fantastic. Having safer bike lanes and more people commuting via bicycle isn't just good for the environment, it's linked to a higher quality of life for communities lucky enough to have this infrastructure.
2 - More thoughtful infrastructure planning. I'm frustrated that I can take a train to Hartford, but then I'm stuck getting a cab to the airport. Surely there is a better way of doing this?
3 - Improved trains. Europe has such amazing train and bus systems, it feels like another planet when I'm there. I don't know why we can't have a quicker New Haven - Grand Central line? On a larger scale, I would love to be able to board a train in New Haven that could take me all the way to Montréal directly.
Thank you for your time and consideration!

I am in support of this initiative because I believe we need to do everything we possibly can to reduce our carbon emissions and this would be a great step forward. One day our grandchildren will ask us what we did when we knew we had time to make a change to help them have a better future. Supporting TCI will be something we can point to as a possible turning point.
Thank you.
Amy Hunter Maguire

As a person with asthma and soon to be first time parent, the TCI would represent a huge step towards addressing two major concerns I have for my own health and that of my family – climate change and air pollution. I would like to thank Governor Baker for his leadership on the TCI. The TCI offers many benefits for citizens, and I am looking forward to its implementation to help us 1) reduce a key source of greenhouse gas emissions to make progress towards reducing the potential impacts of climate change, 2) reducing transportation generated air pollution, improving the health of all residents of these states, and 3) increasing the robustness of our public transit infrastructure, reducing traffic congestion and leading to improved livability of our communities while giving citizens precious time back in their days. To help realize all of these benefits, I urge you to adopt the most aggressive greenhouse gas reduction recommended by current climate change research. I also urge you to consider disproportionate increases in public transit resources to currently underserved communities and those with disproportionate air pollution exposure.

I understand that you want to cut GHG emissions, but TCI is not the way to do it. The TCI gas tax will mean less money in the taxpayer's pocket and an even higher cost of living, when we are already near the highest in the nation. And all of this to mere negligible effects on the environment. I'm asking you to please reject the Transportation and Climate Initiative and keep Massachusetts out!