TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Why has it taken this long to seriously consider this? It should’ve been done 20 years ago.

My family regularly uses public transportation if we are going beyond our home county. This usually means the Concord Coach, or The Downeaster. If a cleaner solution was available to us, we would DEFINITELY take advantage of the opportunity. This initiative is needed, if not only to help address the climate change problem, but just to keep our air cleaner and reduce respiratory issues!

I wholeheartedly support the T&C Initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as it is efficient, cost effective and can provide new sources of income to Mainers who work in renewable energy, construction, public policy and transportion fields.
The TCI can play a critical role in combating global warming caused by excess carbon emissions. According to the EPA, Transportation as a whole contributes 29% of the planet's Greenhouse gas emissions. Mainers would happily use cleaner public transportation (hybrid electric or electric, or even trains which take cars off the road) if there were more routes available and high quality service (ie. schedule punctuality and ride frequency). The new vehicles are expensive compared to diesel buses for example, but that's only because diesel bus prices are offset by the FTA's paying 80% of a bus's purchase price! If the TCI offered comparable incentivizing subsidies, polluting vehicles would be soon replaced. Further savings would come from not having to purchase as much fuel.
Solar, hydropower and wind energy would produce the electricity to charge the buses.Maine has much to offer from these particular forms of energy. "Bloom energy boxes" (methane/electrolyte hybrids) could be used as batteries to store what is typically considered "unstorable" energy from these sources. New England would see the rise in employment for engineers, energy specialists and installers, and electricians- Vocational tech schools should get funding for new classes to raise a new generations of such skilled laborers. Which advertising, technical college classes would grow and produce a highly productive work force. All this from a Transportation and Climate Initiative!
In sum, I highly encourage anyone reading this note to support the TCI - it's good for the economy, it's good for the planet and it's good for all of us.

It is a sad statement that I have to write in support of a concept that is such a no brainer for anyone who recognizes that we are in a true climate crisis. Electrifying transportation is one of the most significant things we can be doing to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. My grandchildren's future depends upon initiatives like this becoming the norm.

This is a crucial step forward to halting carbon emissions....and we must move forward NOW.

- Years of peer-reviewed scientific evidence indicates we are NOT on a sustainable path...look around, the evidence is everywhere!
- The Gulf of Maine is warming on average at a faster rate than other bodies of water and the lobsters are migrating north...bye lucrative industry.
- Maine has a vast coastline, but the state will NOT have the financial resources to protect it all.
- The Keeling Curve data just passed 415 ppm of CO2...levels above 350 ppm are considered harmful...that level was reached in ~1985!
- etc, etc, etc.

Rail! Let's build an efficient, economic, less-polluting network of trains (light rail included) to connect people and goods throughout Maine. How crazy is it that it took a private organization, TrainRiders Northeast, to bring Amtrak to Portland and Brunswick? Why isn't state government supporting this highly successful effort and expanding the concept? In my own memory we had rail service all over the state, with connections to Canadian rail.

Instead of tearing up tracks - even for good causes like "rail trails," we should be restoring rail transportation. Private cars, even electric ones, are really a curse. Private cards are dangerous, highly polluting, anti-social, obviously inefficient (hauling a ton of steel and plastic to carry in most cases one person). We need to wean ourselves off them. Let's create local bus systems that can connect with train stations, buses that could pick up and drop off passengers where needed. We already have some of this. RAMP IT UP.

Maine needs an ambitious plan to reduce climate-changing transportation pollution that is coordinated with neighboring states.

Public transportation is often prohibitively expensive (trains, for example, are never a cost effective option; buses are often not viable as well); an affordable choice would certainly help people public options over cars.

Northeastern states worked successfully together to tackle power plant pollution through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which is supporting energy efficiency and weatherization investments through Efficiency Maine that lower energy costs and pollution. Transportation is our biggest source of carbon pollution and contributes significantly to climate change. Transportation contributes to serious health issues like asthma which starts in childhood and has economic consequences throughout life. I support the collaboration afforded by this TCI initiative!