TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

Please do not include road widening projects in the transportation bill. The focus should be on public transit and making towns more walkable and bike-able. We need to take real and meaningful steps to combat the climate crisis and putting more cars on the road is not a means to that end. Thank you for all your hard work on this and other issues.

Baltimore City has terrible public transportation which forces many to have cars. As a result, Charles Street, a major thoroughfare, has closed down to one lane of auto traffic near John's Hopkins University. There is a bike lane and a lane of metered parking which could have been two or three lanes for auto traffic. The bike lane would also be safer behind the median, but that's more about a bad commissioner.

We used to have trolleys, and the rails have been buried beneath macadem for decades since the trolleys were discontinued. Those rails are sturdy and occasionally peer out when the street is worn down. It would be cheaper and healthier to resurrect the trolleys in the city, then move the bike lane and eliminate the extra parking lane, there already being a parking lane behind the median where the biking would be safer. For the rest of Baltimore, trolley service would be a boon for citizens so poorly served by buses and a very limited subway.

We need more public transit and electric vehicle infrastructure in rural areas!
We need Expansion of commuter rail, electric vehicles, and streets in the suburbs that are safe, to walk or bike!
We need Sustainable and equitable housing near transit and electric bus fleets in urban communities.

Transportation in Maryland (and other states) is not being controlled in an efficient and eco-friendly manner. We are so far behind some European countries and must do better. People spend too much time driving to and from work. This wastes fuel and frustrates people, who in turn take out their aggression on innocent people driving. The environment is being ruined; and our health is at stake too.

Travel within Massachusetts, particularly commuting into Boston, has become something of a regular nightmare. We travel several times a week between Worcester, MA, where we live, and Boston or Medford, MA where we teach at Tufts University's different campuses.

My partner takes the train; I drive due to disability issues that make it hard to walk to the train and walk from the train to work. The train is quite expensive, and he has a few times been caught very late getting home (sometimes more than an hour) because of issues with the trains or tracks. Driving sometimes takes a considerable amount of time due to congestion; we worry about the possibility of traffic accidents, given the high rate in the area.

Both of us would prefer if there were faster, more reliable, cheaper transportation. It would be amazing if there were a higher-speed train that did not cost around 25 dollars to take it to Boston and back.

I'm not sure what the exact right answer is, but I know that Massachusetts must lean hard into investing in its infrastructure if we are to sustain increased population growth and a thriving economy. Otherwise, our roads will become more jammed and our air worse. Tempers will continue to flair (Masshole should not be a term!). Why not plan for the future with a state-of-the-art railway? If there were better park-and-ride options here in Worcester, I might be able to partake.

Lots to consider. The only wrong thing to do is nothing.

Thank you for your time!

I'm 86, old enough to remember walking across Washington street in Medford, MA to take the train to North Station, Boston, and walk to work. That line was discontinued and I hear it's been filled in. People in Chelmsford and Bedford used to take the trains. The rails are now bike paths. The Nashua-to-Boston line through Chelmsford is tied up in obstructionist red tape.Tell me, what's the advantage of removing rails so affluent suburbanites who live in relatively clean air can drive their polluting cars onto Boston? and park in expensive garages? It's all very well to talk about driverless cars--but rapid transit is driverless for the commute! It doesn't fill our roads with more traffic jams and gas fumes And irritable motorists. My daughter occasionally goes to Boston and endures the tortures of the damned driving home--last time it was 3 hours in stop-and-go traffic from Boston to Lowell because there was no public transport to her convention's venue. Why isn't there more public transport? Is it because we are spoiled & want our car radios? The advantages of having everything in one place are offset by the stress, gas fumes inhaled, and time wasted driving there.

How we get around is important and transportation is the largest source of air pollution in the region. We need to build a modern, clean, safe, and accessible transportation system for the 21st century. The more we limit pollution from motor fuels, the more jobs we create, the more the economy grows, the healthier our air becomes, the quieter our communities become and the more lives we save. Maryland should join TCI to fund better transportation infrastructure, reduce traffic, and make my community a cleaner, safer place to live. We need to transfer to all electric cars and buses as soon as possible, build a monorail to Frederick that ties into the existing subway, and make public transportation free to all people, with a priority on low income households.
Public Health: It is clear that air pollution from cars, trucks, and buses have become a huge detriment to my community’s health. Air pollution has been linked to a variety of health problems, including asthma, heart disease, and lung cancer, and the more ambitious TCI is, the more our community stands to benefit from a cleaner transportation system. I urge my Governor to join TCI and push it to be as ambitious as possible, for the sake of my community’s health and livelihood. Having lived near the Dickerson Power Plant and Incinerator for many years, I can attest to the effects of particulates in aggravating my allergies and causing endless respiratory problems.

As a person living in a rural area, I think that TCI is extremely important. When states join TCI, they have the opportunity to invest in rural communities where transportation options are limited. Joining TCI would allow Maryland to ensure that rural communities aren’t left behind in the green transition and stuck behind the wheel of costly, inefficient vehicles. Governor Hogan should push for an ambitious TCI program so that rural communities like mine get the solutions they need, including adequate sidewalks in small town so people can walk safely to the train station, post office and stores.

I support the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) as it will reduce the number of private vehicles on the road, reduce congestion, and improve the climate. Please support this.
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It is urgent that we have comprehensive transportation planning which takes into account the need to minimize climate change. We've only got a short time left to address climate change. The Eastern and mid-Atlantic states are very densely populated, so reliable transportation is essential for people to be able to get to work. Taking climate change into account is particularly important for this region as rising oceans will make some coastal areas uninhabitable.