Why is our transportation system always holding us back? The Commonwealth’s participation in a regional plan to cut emissions (“Coalition forces deal on carbon emissions,” Page A1, Aug. 24) is laudable, but without addressing the transportation sector, accounting for 39 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, we’re going nowhere fast in reaching reduction goals.
The mess that is public transit in Massachusetts encourages reliance on cars. And so it is no surprise that the transportation sector is the fastest growing source of emissions in the state. A Pew Center on Global Climate Change report found that “Given its size and rate of growth, any serious greenhouse gas mitigation strategy must include the transportation sector.”
Advertisement
The good news is that we have options. We can invest in the state of good repair of our existing system to make it more attractive to users. We can expand the system so that more users are able to use it. And we can explore innovate new approaches like bus rapid transit to diversify the system.
A substandard transportation system limits the success of business, economic growth, and now our ability to mitigate climate change. All roads lead to modernizing our transportation system to meet the demands of the 21st century.