TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

We just purchased an electric car and see the need for further investment in fast charging stations. We also live in an area in which the public transportation system is basically set up for the commuting workers in and out of Hartford, but is very inconvenient for evenings and weekends and those folks who work a non-9-5 schedule. If we as a nation are to move ahead with clean methods of transport, we need to invest in systems that people can use as an alternative to driving .
thank you.

As transportation contributes the majority of carbon it is urgent that we transition to using electricity for motor vehicles, heating while ensuring no adverse impact on minorities and low income folks

The draft Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) proposal is a bold step to upgrade the region’s transportation system to be more efficient, more affordable, and less polluting. Through an innovative framework that cuts pollution and invests in 21st century transportation solutions, the TCI proposal would ensure today’s broken system isn’t also the region’s future.

Residents of urban, suburban, and rural communities will benefit from expanded, accessible and affordable public transportation; investments in electric buses, trucks, and other clean vehicles; resilient transportation infrastructure; improved pedestrian walkways; safe infrastructure for biking; and transit-accessible affordable housing.

However, we still need to set a minimum price on pollution and establish market protections like an “Emissions Containment Reserve” that would automatically strengthen the regional policy—and more quickly reduce transportation pollution—if the cost of doing so ends up being cheaper than expected. We’ve seen how similar elements in the region’s clean power policy design create a more robust framework, and the states should apply these lessons in the transportation sector as well.

Also important is the level of pollution reductions that the states commit to in their final policy. With transportation accounting for the largest share of climate pollution, the region’s clean transportation policy must be sufficiently bold and ambitious to ensure the scale of pollution reductions we need to address the climate crisis.

We need a regional plan, involving the governors of regional states and the mayor of Washington, D.C., to 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 make these a priority in your plans - thank you.

We need to take action to turn this climate emergency around now. I hope that it takes place responsibly and that we purchase batteries for electric vehicles from companies who purchase minerals such lithium via fair trade so that countries such as Bolivia and the continent of Africa do not get exploited in the process.

We drive a hybrid car, have recently installed solar panels on our home to reduce fossil fuel use. We are advocates of switching to alternative and renewable energies worldwide. We would support TCI’s plans for increasing and encouraging introduction of electric vehicles, public transportation networks (again with an electric fleet), enticements for individuals to switch away from gas fueled cars to hybrids and electric. Maine could be an environmentally progressive leader in many ways. We could show other US states positive results from significant reduction of emissions. Right now federal legislation is hopeless while we have such an ignorant and destructive person in charge, so relying state by state seems a viable way to enact protective laws.

Waste has never needed a convincing rational. Thrift was a natural virtue in my family’s post depression culture. Scarcity certainly can remind us of the value of essentials once taken for granted. I remember how the 1970’s oil embargo shook up our complacency and provoked a generation of efficiency throughout the developed world. Efficient architecture, transportation, and engineering and sweaters, wood heat, alternative energy sources and all means of minimizing consumption became enlightened virtues, almost overnight. Beauty in parsimony was in style, but not for long.
It wasn’t foresight or virtue, but the elegance of thrift and off-grid independence that guided my family’s automotive and architectural preferences in the ensuing years. The return of abundance was a relief to some however, as we returned to oversized cars, SUVs and vans, decadent home climate habits and air travel.
Before us once again is an existential opportunity to write our history re; our climate crisis. It is terrifying to consider the point of no return for our planet and what that dark end might look like for our survivors. The word is out on the street. We may have already passed the turning point.
The most effective interventions are within immediate reach. I count the heavy pickups carrying a single soul to a parking lot at a job 30 miles from home. Or the unnecessary air travel we have become accustom to or the leaky buildings we heat with carbon laden climate eroding fossil-fuels.
The time for action is so close to too late it is tempting to just concede. If there were ever a time to call on our better angels, it is now. Survival for our progeny may still be in reach. We cannot afford to postpone another minute.
Transportation remains the low hanging fruit at this juncture.
Do we need to carry that extra 1000 Lbs wherever we go?
Can we find ways to be productive without wasteful nonproductive travel?
How can we maximize the passenger payload on our routine trips?
Are there alternatives to automobiles and trucks to get around?
Why are we so afraid of planned density communities that can capitalize on efficiency while preserving open land?
The bad news is that it’s almost too late
The good is that our fate still rests in our hands.
That is why I write and why I support the Transportation and Climate Initiative. This program has a double benefit: it will incentivize people not to waste fuel with slightly higher costs at the fuel pump and it will generate the means to build an infrastructure that can create a more efficient transportation network. To my mind the choice is not a hard one when weighed against the future we will leave our children.

That’s why Governor Wolf is considering joining 11 other states and D.C. to form a regional initiative — the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) — that’s going to limit carbon emissions and significantly reduce pollution from gas-guzzling cars and trucks on heavily trafficked roads. It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and raise much-needed revenue to modernize our transportation system on a regional scale, which will make it easier for everyone to get around!

Governor Wolf already committed to participating in TCI last year, and his administration is currently soliciting feedback on the program to decide if Pennsylvania will formally join. If we’re ever going to transition away from the dirty fossil fuels that are making our children sick and devastating our climate, then we have to get as many voices as we can to speak out in support of this bold initiative. Can we count you in?

Submit an official comment in support of the Transportation and Climate Initiative and a new generation of public transit >>

In your stakeholder comment, we recommend you:

-reduce pollution from transportation is a key component to reducing Pennsylvania's emissions
-public transit investments that could be made with TCI proceeds would be valuable
- leaders choose the aggressive greenhouse gas reduction target that the most recent climate science tells us we need.
- prioritize clean investments in areas overburdened by pollution and/or for those who don’t have access to transportation choices.

Alarming evidence demands urgent action to reduce carbon emissions. A meaningful and comprehensive carbon reduction plan must address a wide variety of transportation modes, penalize excessive emissions and reward low/no emission transportation initiatives.

Increase public awareness and encourage wider cooperation.

Support effective carbon sequestration technologies and require implementation of same.

We must act promptly to overcome this global threat.