TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

At CES, we see real potential in this project. However there are a few things I believe we need to be very cautious about. Electric vehicles are featured prominently in the website and preliminary discussions, and we need to be clear that electric cars are a last resort, the second to worst option only better than regular cars. Public transport, and building safe, dense, and equitable cities around it, and biking and walking as well, need to be our focus. The lithium and cobalt and other materials needed to make these EVs are hugely damaging to the environment, and are primarily obtained through brutal slave labor in central Africa. And building 1 electric bus only requires 4 times more of these materials but carries 50 times more people. Same goes for energy-an electric or a electric-powered train carries many times more people a given distance per kWh. Right now, most power is coal and natural gas, and while it's slowly cleaning up, it's nowhere near fast enough to make electric cars a good idea, especially when more cars mean even more energy needed, so even more renewables would be needed to achieve the same emissions levels. Getting people out of cars solves emissions here and now, and more effectively. It is also equitable, because a huge part of society can barely afford regular cars, or cannot at all, and have to depend desperately on public transit systems that have been destroyed. They can't afford electric cars either, even more so-don't let them be left behind.

The whole reason the US, and other similar nations like Canada and Australia, have such high transportation emissions, is because we decided over the last 50 years to allow cars to take over total control. Rip down our cities for highways and parking lots, and cut public transit. That's why Europe's emissions are so low compared to ours, because they didn't do it nearly as extensively as we did. Now is our time to work this backwards, repair the damage that we did, not pass the buck and double down on the very things that caused our problems in the first place, and hope that electricity emissions decrease fast enough to account for us not choosing to do what is right, and help us avoid disaster.

Jet fuel definitely needs to be taxed, and so does electric car charging. And we need mileage based taxation to replace gas taxes because otherwise electric cars are getting even more subsidies.

We recommend the following programs to try to achieve these goals, whether through legislation and/or using funding to pay for these things:

-End exclusionary single family and large lot residential zoning and embrace transit oriented development (maybe provide funding for urban planning fees and/or incentives to municipalities who do)-minimum of 10 dwelling units per acre
-Ratchet up funding for city and regional transit authorities, both for electric buses and light rail, and for increased service frequency
-More funding to state-funded Amtrak service for more frequent service, and for restoring canceled rail lines and increasing speeds. Maybe more amtrak buses too, or funding for bus services like Trailways, to improve service
-Money for development assistance in Midsize Rust Belt cities like Scranton, Buffalo, Cleveland, Utica, Binghamton, Springfield, Baltimore, where the suburbanization has killed city housing value so badly that infill development is impossible to finance
-Money for new bike lanes and trails, and subsidies for electric assist bicycles

Thank you

We probably do not have as much time as we think to address the climate crisis. All efforts to address the issue should be considered and enacted as soon as possible. The sooner the better.

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.

We need non-fossil fuel public transit through out the country, and subsidized too, to get people used to riding it. This country uses far too many greenhouse gas emitting single passenger and freight trucking vehicles. We've got to reform our transporation systems as fast as possible.

We are in support of all efforts to reduce carbon emissions and feel that any action taken in that direction is a step towards collectively caring for our planet.

I am very excited to learn about this initiative and the possibility that PA will join. I am a mother, a teacher, and have been a PA resident for most of my life. While I have been concerned about climate change for a long time, since I had my son it has taken on new urgency for me.

First, we need better public transportation infrastructure. If we are going to reduce emissions, which cause both air pollution and global warming, we need fewer cars on the road. In principle, I am a proponent of public transportation. In practice, I rarely take it. In many places in our state, there is no public transportation available. In other places, systems are antiquated and inadequate. I live in Philadelphia but I work in the suburbs. Right now I drive 30-40 minutes every day. I would much rather take public transportation and be able to read, respond to work emails, listen to music, etc, but I would have to take a bus, then a train, and then walk a half hour. It would take at least an hour and a half each way. My husband and I may move to the suburbs, but one of our concerns is that we will become much more car-dependent than we are now. What if the northeast had a truly modern network of electric trains, connected to networks of electric and/or hybrid buses? Better public transit is not just an environmental issue; it's smart economic policy too. People need to get to work. Right now, many low wage workers commute from Philadelphia to the suburbs by ride share services, spending a portion of their wages they can ill afford to share. Better public transportation would help workers, especially low-income people.

Furthermore, investing in public transportation will create jobs. We don't have to choose between environmentalism and a strong state and regional economy. We can have both. Planning, building, and running public transit across the state and region will create jobs. It will also pump money into the economy. Many communities in PA today are struggling. People are working, but they're working multiple jobs just to make ends meet. Investing in infrastructure could be a huge boon to our most vulnerable communities and families.

Most importantly, we need to reduce emissions. This is urgent. Wildfires in California, floods in Kentucky, devastating hurricanes each year--the climate crisis has arrived. We need dramatic action now. One third of emissions comes from transportation (source: https://www.transportationandclimate.org/content/about-us). This is an historic opportunity to make a difference. It is unfortunate that climate policy has been a partisan issue. We all need clean air to breathe. We all care about our children's future.

By joining this regional initiative, PA has a chance to become a leader in the region and nationwide. Please choose the most aggressive targets in designing this program. We need real action, not lip-service. I am aware that in order to move away from fossil fuel-burning vehicles and toward clean energy and public transportation, our culture needs to change. However, we don't have a choice. Thank you for your leadership. Please help move us into a green and viable future.
Sincerely,
Rachel Frankford

In our Urban and Suburban centers there are too many cars and too much pollution. I taught high school students in Philadelphia who had to have their inhalers with them. I volunteer in an ER in Norristown where patients of all ages have breathing difficulties and need breathing treatments. We need to continue to work on lowering smoking, but we also need to make public transportation affordable and convenient. Lowering the levels of CO2 in the air will make breathing easier for all and lower the number of rage-related incidents in traffic-jammed streets. The climate will be closer to the old normal. Seas will stop swallowing shores. We will have more time to relax and enjoy life.

Solving environmental issue - including those effecting climate are best solved on a regional basis.
PA Has the THIRD LARGEST CLIMATE FOOTPRINT in the nation so supporting TCI is a must - and a moral responsibility.