In stark contrast to its annual number 1 ranking for energy efficiency, Massachusetts is perpetually nearly at the back of the pack for traffic and infrastructure. The fundamental problems of transportation for our state are as old as our state. Billions of taxpayer dollars were spent to ease the flow of traffic in recent decades, and yet the congestion bounced back to surpass previous levels. To make matters worse, greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles is now the leading source of climate-disrupting pollution in our state. That’s why, as Massachusetts lawmakers, we can no longer stand by and allow modern, clean transportation solutions to go unfunded.
Commentary: TCI is the solution to Virginia's transportation, climate problems
The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Virginia
By Ken Locklin
Transportation is a key part of our everyday lives—from commuting to work and school, to running errands and shipping goods across the country. It is also a major contributor to climate change.
TCI would help rural Vermonters
By Daniel Gatti
Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire got it exactly backwards when he withdrew New Hampshire from the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) by suggesting that the program is unfair to rural communities.
A triumph of short-termism in New Hampshire
The Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts
By Yvonne Abraham
The governor of New Hampshire appears determined to cut off his constituents’ noses to spite their faces.
Baker’s climate program could help rural commuters
The Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts
By Stephen Kulik and Daniel E. Bosley
The Transportation and Climate Initiative could improve small-town transportation systems across Massachusetts.
Connecticut could be known for a modern transportation system, instead of asthma
Hartford Courant, Hartford, Connecticut
By Amy McLean Salls and Charles Rothenberger
Connecticut’s transportation system is due for an upgrade. The state’s network of roads, public transit, and ports, ranks 37th in the nation, and our outdated infrastructure, congested roads, and polluted air are a drag on the economy. All of Connecticut’s residents and businesses deserve transportation options that will help them thrive, and that’s a vision that we can deliver.
Another Voice: New York needs to take leadership role in climate initiative
The Buffalo News, Buffalo, New York
By Elizabeth Hamlin
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has a tremendous opportunity to help us all breathe easier, endure fewer asthma attacks and avoid a host of illnesses brought on by air pollution.
A regional plan to improve transportation and reduce pollution
Gloucester Daily Times, Gloucester. Massachusetts
By Chris Dempsey
The state’s transportation system is literally riddled with challenges: Potholed roads, inadequate public transit service, soul-crushing traffic congestion, and tailpipe pollution that both causes asthma and heart disease and is the state’s largest source of greenhouse-gas emissions. To address these problems, Governor Baker has been working with a bipartisan group of governors from nearby states to advance a regional, market-based program known as the Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI).
Smart transportation can clean air, cut health costs, shorten commutes
The Day, New London, Connecticut
By Amy McLean Salls
As we leave behind the summer fun, send the kids back to school and return to our daily commutes, transportation challenges are front and center. In Connecticut, the core problems of aging infrastructure and congested roads are compounded by air pollution from growing vehicle emissions.
Sherri Evans-Stanton, "Vehicles are polluting Delaware, but we can do something about it"
Let’s face it: The ways we move people and goods in Delaware are outdated, damaging to public health, congested, under-funded and destructive to our climate.
Transportation now accounts for approximately 40% of carbon pollution in the region — and let’s be clear that air pollution knows no state boundaries. This is why it is critical that Governor Carney has joined with other states in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and the Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI).
RGGI, which addresses the electricity generation sector, has resulted in more than $125 million for Delaware and more than $3 billion for the region in new funding for renewables and energy efficiency.
The new TCI program, modeled after the success of RGGI, targets transportation. It’s designed to limit pollution from motor fuels while creating new funds for clean transportation investments.