Massachusetts Lawmaker Wants Limits on Personal Vehicle Use

Discussion continues on ways to reduce motor vehicle traffic on Massachusetts's overcrowded roadways while at the same time tending to environmental concerns, real or perceived.

At least one prominent state lawmaker is proposing that the state set limits on the use of private vehicles.

Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Stone Creem, whose district includes Brookline, Newton and Wellesley, has filed legislation based on laws she says have been adopted in Colorado and Minnesota that reduce vehicle miles while addressing environmental concerns.

The 82-year-old Democrat has filed "An Act Aligning The Commonwealth's Transportation Plans With Its Mandates and Goals For Reducing Emissions and Vehicle Miles Traveled (Bill S.2246)."

A summary of Creem's bill says it would "Require MassDOTS's transportation plans to provide a reasonable pathway to compliance with our emissions limits for the transportation sector" otherwise, "it would have to be amended to include greater investment in public transit, bike, and pedestrian infrastructure, or other clean transportation options."

Creem's bill establishes "an interagency coordinating council – similar to the existing coordinating council for EV charging infrastructure – to come up with a whole-of-government plan to reduce vehicle miles traveled and increase access to transportation options other than personal vehicles."

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State House News Service reported that Creem told a hearing of the Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Committee, "Colorado and Minnesota have adopted similar requirements, which have successfully reoriented their transportation plans toward a responsible balance of investment in highway, public transit, and active transportation projects."

"We could do the same thing here," Creem said.

Creem told the committee that electric vehicles "are certainly a major piece of the puzzle," but "cautioned against over-reliance on any single decarbonization strategy," reported SHNS.