State senator defends bill to reduce personal vehicle use in Massachusetts

BOSTON — State Senator Cynthia Stone Creem is speaking out about a bill she filed that would seek to reduce personal vehicle driving miles across Massachusetts in order to meet state climate goals.

The legislation, An Act Aligning the Commonwealth’s Transportation Plan with its Mandates and Goals for Reducing Emissions and Vehicle Miles Traveled (S. 2246), has drawn criticism for its intent to reduce the number of statewide driving miles.

Supporters praise the bill for the additional public transportation options it would promote and for going after what they describe as a heavy polluter in personal vehicles.

“The purpose of the Freedom to Move Act is to ensure that we are investing in all transportation options—both roads and highways and cleaner alternatives like trains and buses—to help align Massachusetts with its climate target,” Stone Creem told the Herald in a lengthy statement defending her bill. “It does not in any way limit people’s choices about how to get around. It does not impose fines, penalties, or taxes on drivers. In fact, it gives people more choices.”

But according to language in the bill and a summary of the legislation, MassDOT would be required to set goals for reducing the amount of miles residents collectively travel in their personal vehicles.

“The bill would also require MassDOT to set goals for reducing the number of statewide driving miles, which would be considered when EEA sets greenhouse gas emissions limits and sublimits,” a summary of the legislation says.

Stone Creem’s bill goes on to even prohibit MassDOT from approving Regional Transportation Plans and a Statewide Transportation Improvement Program if they do not “provide a reasonable pathway to compliance” with statewide vehicle miles traveled reduction goals set by the Transportation Secretary.

“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,” the legislation reads.

Supporters of Stone Creem’s bill, who testified before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy at a hearing in May, applauded the goal of reducing statewide personal driving miles for going after “the largest source of emissions in the Commonwealth.”

“The sector is the largest source of emissions in the Commonwealth, accounting for roughly 40% of overall carbon pollution,” said Casey Bowers, of the Environmental League of Massachusetts.

Kevin Shannon, an analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said at the hearing that the bill would “fill a necessary gap between our climate goals and plans and the transportation plans the state makes every year.”

But the legislation drew concern from state Senator and Committee Chair Michael Barrett (D-Third Middlesex), who expressed his fear that limiting statewide personal vehicle miles would affect those in rural parts of the state.

“I do worry about an unintended and subtle bias against rural Massachusetts,” said Barrett. “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 when one has to travel a long distance to a construction job or any other place of employment,” Barrett said.

In her statement to the Herald, Stone Creem acknowledged those concerns, saying her bill allows for “regional flexibility.”

“The bill also recognizes that the Commonwealth includes diverse communities with vastly different transportation realities. What works for Greater Boston may not be right for the Berkshires, Central Massachusetts, or the Cape. That’s why the bill allows for regional flexibility and supports investments that make sense locally,” said Stone Creem.

Not covered by the bill, an expense account that pays lawmakers for travel to and from the State House.

Massachusetts lawmakers living within 50 miles of the state house receive a $15,000 expense stipend that can be used for travel expenses and office supplies, while lawmakers living more than 50 miles from the state house receive a $20,000 stipend for travel and office supplies. That’s on top of a base salary of $82,044 for all state lawmakers, up over 11% from the 2024 base pay.

The bill was reported favorably by the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy in a 4–1 vote in November and has been referred to the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Stone Creem declined a Herald request for a phone interview, instead referencing her written statement.

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