TCI Regional Policy Design Stakeholder Submissions

I attended the TCI meeting in Burlington, and I support the Transportation and Climate Initiative, as one of hopefully many measures to mitigate carbon emissions in Vermont. I believe that the ensuing climate crisis is the greatest threat we face today, so it impacts all of my political decision-making. The Transportation and Climate Initiative seems like it would be a sound economic device to reduce transportation emissions, especially since Vermont would be working in conjunction with other larger, more populous states. I think TCI would be most powerful in Vermont if investments were used to mitigate economic impacts on lower-income and rural residents, who are likely to be disproportionately affected by the climate crisis, or to expand other transit options to rural areas. As someone who used to live in a more rural part of the state, car-dependency often felt like a millstone. Investment of funds sourced from TCI into expanded public transit across the state would, in my opinion, expand opportunities for more Vermont residents.

Clean Transportation is a must both for climate mitigation and human health. We have to act now to curtail planet warming otherwise it will be too late. Additionally CT residents suffer from a number of lung diseases secondary to pollution from transportation.

I take commuter rail and the subway to work five days a week. I would love to see more cars on some of the peak schedule trains on the Fitchburg line. I would also like to see more frequent weekday evening trains. Generally, whenever I attend a professional meeting in Cambridge or Boston on a weekday evening, I end up taking Bus 70 home, because my journey falls between the wide gaps in the night train schedule. I understand some cities have smaller commuter rail trains with electric engines that run more frequently to better support non-peak times. Collecting ridership analytics on every train on every commuter rail line would help guide this.

I have been experimenting with public transportation as an alternitive to driving and I find mass transportation is not a practical way to travel. To get people to get out of there cars, public transportation has become simpler and faster. In the Washington DC area buses to the Metro Stations would need to come more frequently and there need to be more bus routes that take people from one suburb to another. It takes me between 1.5 to two hours and several transfersto go from Beltsville to Bethesda (a half hour trip by car) via mass transit. Perhaps a bus lane could be added to the beltway (495) and a circute bus route could go around the beltway with stops at each beltway exit. Bike share stations should be available at all metro stations to take commuters the "last mile home." In the DC metro area bus ridership is down and subway ridership is down. If buses came as frequently as subway trains I am sure bus ridership would increase.

Also could private companies be encoured to use vans or buses to make private bus lines to augment publicly funded mass transit?

Please, Do the Right Thing for Ours and Our Children's Future. What would They be Proud Of?

Transforming our transportation to a clean and efficient system is essential to meeting the climate goals of the next decade and preventing catastrophic climate change, around the world as well as in our own state. Transportation is one of the top source of greenhouse gas emissions, and the TCI will build on the success of RGGI in coordinating the climate leadership in NY and the northeast. Please take this essential leadership role in the fight against climate change for this and future generations, and join the TCI.

Not to modernise our transportation infrastructure and habits in the face of climate change and the increasing marginalisation of rural areas like my own is unconscionable. You need to support this initiative with all available means to stave off rapidly approaching natural, social, economic and civic catastrophe. Hiding your head in the sand is not the answer - we've waited too long to address this disaster already.

Support the transportation & climate act that will cut pollution to avert climate crisis & hold polluters accountable for pollution. Also we need more public transit and electric vehicle infrastructure in rural areas as well as expanding commuter rail & electric vehicles and streets in suburbs safe for walking and biking. Finally, there needs to be greater sustainable & equitable housing near transit and electric bus fleets in urban areas.

I believe that a regional transportation system is crucial for the Northeast. I live in NYC next to a bridge and experience the ramifications of excessive car transport in and out of City. Traffic, car fumes and noise pollution are a common occurrence in midtown. I personally experience sinus and respiratory symptoms due to the idling of cars and fumes that pollute the air. Europe has a stellar public transportation system that makes travel easy and more environmentally friendly, and the Northeast can only benefit from a similar network. We have a densely populated area where roads and infrastructure are not suited to the volume, and too many individual vehicles using the roadways. As traffic increases, idling increases and Co2 emissions increase, making the air quality poor and accelerating environmental fallout.