Massachusetts Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Stone Creem (D) introduced a bill this year to create a commission with the goal of reducing the number of miles driven by residents in their cars because of ‘climate change’, with an ultimate goal to “reduce the need for personal vehicles.”
Image via Cynthia Creem/X May 14, 2025.
The 82-year-old Creem wants the state government to promulgate regulations that could fine residents for driving too much and force them into riding public transportation, using bikes paths and walking.
Excerpts from Bill S. 2246:
(b) No metropolitan planning organization shall approve a Regional Transportation Plan or Transportation Improvement Program developed pursuant to 23 CFR Part 450, and the department shall not approve a Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, unless the plan or program, including any mitigation measures interlinked to individual projects within the plan or program, provides a reasonable pathway to compliance with the greenhouse gas emissions sublimits for the transportation set pursuant to section 3A of chapter 21N and to the statewide vehicles miles traveled reduction goals established by the secretary pursuant to section 81 of this chapter.
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(f) The department may promulgate rules or regulations for the implementation of this section.
Section 81. (a) To relieve traffic congestion, improve air quality, and promote compliance with the greenhouse gas emissions limits established pursuant to chapter 21N, the secretary shall, in consultation with the secretary of economic development, the secretary of energy and environmental affairs, and the secretary of housing and livable communities, set a statewide vehicle miles traveled reduction goal for the year 2030 and for every fifth year thereafter. The vehicle miles traveled reduction goals shall be incorporated into: (i) the greenhouse gas emissions sublimits for the transportation sector set pursuant to subsection (b) of section 3A of chapter 21N; and (ii) the roadmap plans published pursuant to subsection (b) of section 3 of said chapter 21N.
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The council shall assess and report on strategies and plans necessary to reduce statewide vehicles miles traveled through the establishment of an equitable, interconnected, accessible and reliable network of non-personal vehicle transportation options and through land use policies that reduce the need for personal vehicles. The plan shall facilitate: (i) compliance with the greenhouse gas emissions limits and sublimits set pursuant to chapter 21N of the General Laws, with emphasis on compliance with the emissions limits and sublimits set for 2030; (ii) attainment of the numerical benchmarks for vehicle miles traveled set pursuant to section 81 of chapter 6C; (iii) the development of compact, walkable neighborhoods; and (iv) advancement of access to, and affordability of, non-personal vehicle transportation options.
The assessment shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the present condition of, and future needs for, non-personal vehicle transportation infrastructure and services, including, but not limited to, bicycle paths and lanes; bicycle sharing stations; pedestrian paths; bus, ferry, subway, and train services; transportation demand management programs; and microtransit programs ; (ii) the present status of, and future needs for, land use policies that reduce the need for personal vehicles; (iii) suggestions for optimal locations for new, expanded or improved non-personal vehicle transportation options in urban, suburban and rural areas including, but not limited to, low-income and moderate-income communities; (iv) discussion of programs and policies that may incentivize residents to adopt non-personal vehicle transportation options; (v) discussion of present and projected future costs and methods of financing those costs; (viii) recommendations to assist local governmental and private sector officials in expanding access to non-personal vehicle transportation options and in planning and developing compact, walkable neighborhoods; and (ix) identification and discussion of current policies and recommendations for policies, laws and regulatory actions that may facilitate reductions in vehicle miles traveled.
Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance posted a video Friday criticizing Creem’s proposal:
WATCH: Sen. Cynthia Creem says EVs aren’t enough—Massachusetts must limit how far you can drive, too. Her bill creates a panel to track your mileage and fine you if you go too far.
She says just walk or bike instead.
Textbook extreme, out-of-touch policymaking. #mapoli pic.twitter.com/RgI3OqMTL0
— Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance (@MassFiscal) May 23, 2025
State House News Service reported that at a hearing a week ago Wednesday, there was some skepticism of Creem’s bill (excerpt):
Sen. Michael Barrett, the Senate co-chair of the TUE (Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy) Committee, raised with supporters of Creem’s bill the question of “whether we’re layering too many slightly disparate initiatives, one on top of another, in a way that is, in fact, going to complicate rather than clarify steps that need to be taken.”
Barrett pointed to transportation sector emission sublimits that are supposed to ratchet down over the coming decade and requirements for the MBTA to transition its bus fleet to be zero-emitting as examples that “we do have a lot of provisions right now, enacted in either 2021-2022 or 2024, that correlate transportation spending and climate goals.”
The Lexington Democrat also noted what he called “an unintended and subtle bias against rural Massachusetts,” where transit options are far more limited and people often live further from their workplaces.
“I understand that one can easily imagine that EVs, over time, will reduce the number of polluting vehicle miles traveled. But why we would want to start to pressure Massachusetts to reduce all miles traveled, polluting and non-polluting alike, does raise the question of what someone is to do in a place where one has to travel a long distance to a construction job or to any other source of employment,” Barrett said.
The post “Reduce the Need for Personal Vehicles”: Top Massachusetts Democrat Wants to Limit How Many Miles Residents Can Drive or Drive at All, Because ‘Climate Change’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.