Quickly find out if we have already addressed your query about Our Transportation Future, The Transportation and Climate Initiative and supporting a clean transportation future for the region.
BOSTON, MA – November 18, 2021 – Our Transportation Future issued the following statement today:
UPDATE: ‘TEAM’ Community Act Passed by Full Senate (28-7); Business and Stakeholder Groups Remain Encouraged as Rhode Island Looks to Join Regional Transportation & Climate Initiative Program
The Transportation & Climate Initiative Program Will Save Lives, Improve Air Quality While Providing Critical Funding for States’ Transportation Systems
Common Wealth Magazine, Boston, Massachusetts
By Natalie Blais and John Stout
Fix it first should take precedence over new urban highways
By Wendy Philleo
Richmond Times Dispatch, Richmond, Virginia
As lawmakers continue to focus on a bipartisan infrastructure bill in Washington, there is a massive opportunity before us in Virginia — with funding at the ready — to revitalize our transportation system. It would bring millions in economic investment to the commonwealth and cleaner air for our communities, all while fighting climate change.
By John Stout
Mass Live, Worcester, Massachusetts
Even while our sea levels rise and our skies grow dark from the intense smoke from climate-change-induced wildfires in the western United States and Canada, Massachusetts is still too reliant on dangerous fossil fuels. This week, global scientists released a landmark Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, warning that the window is closing to end our dependence on fossil fuels and avoid catastrophic changes to life as we know it.
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Our Transportation Future Statement from June 2021 Coalition: Eastern States and D.C. Pass Major Milestone, Move Into Implementation Phase of TCI Program to Modernize Transportation Our Transportation Future, June 10, 2021. “Release of the draft implementation plans for the TCI Program means that this effort to modernize Eastern U.S. transportation is moving ahead as planned. This is key to reducing carbon pollution from the transportation sector as well as providing critical funding for 21st Century transportation that will improve our neighborhoods, public health, air quality, and commutes. “For those of us who care so much about this issue, it is gratifying to see the outpouring of public support, which was overwhelmingly positive about TCI-P, and that the participating states recognize the need to take action. As noted in the joint public comments OTF members submitted, our organizations are committed to working with the states to realize an improved regional transportation system with upgraded mass transit, more electric buses, trucks, cars and charging infrastructure, walkable and bikeable communities, air quality monitoring, less congestion and pollution, and increased investments in projects that connect everyone, including those in both underserved urban and rural areas. “We recognize that the implementation process will vary and the different states will employ a variety of approaches, including legislative approval, executive actions, and other policy steps. Just as transportation needs vary from state to state, and neighborhood to neighborhood, so too do we see a considerable range of ways that states will ensure the successful and equitable implementation of TCI-P. OTF looks forward to additional states in the region fully joining the program in the coming weeks and months.” |
By Ken Dixon
Connecticut Post, Norwalk, Connecticut
MILFORD — While electric generators slightly reduced their air emissions in 2018, increases in transportation and business-and-residential emissions continue to make Connecticut’s air some of the worst in the nation at the same time it is contributing to climate change and rising sea levels.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) recently issued a fact-sheet detailing the amount of infrastructure investment Connecticut needs to make in order to receive five times the amount in matching funds from the Senate-passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). According to the legislation, the state of Connecticut must provide at least 20% of the earmarked funds for the state for it to receive funds from the federal government. For example: Connecticut could receive $25 million in federal funds to replace diesel school buses with electric buses. To receive those funds, Connecticut must match at least 20% of the investment with in-state revenue, or $5 million in this example.
Union of Concerned Scientists Report
In a new analysis, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) found that African American, Asian American and Latino residents of the region face significantly higher exposure to pollutants known as PM 2.5—airborne particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter.
Transportation & Climate Initiative Webinar
TCI-101 webinar features the basics on Transportation & Climate Initiative and its cap-and-invest framework, along with fresh perspective on policy developments, goals for implementation, and the broad based advocacy campaign by Our Transportation Future. TCI-101 was presented by policy, public health and environmental experts, who mapped out the current state of the policy and how others can get involved to help shape the Transportation & Climate Initiative.