Nine Northeast and Mid-Atlantic governors and the Mayor of Washington, D.C. announced that their states will move forward with a regional clean transportation initiative.

These 10 members of the Transportation & Climate Initiative (TCI) will now transition from a year-long public comment phase, which engaged communities, businesses, and stakeholders across the region, to begin crafting policies and programs to address their transportation challenges, improve mobility, provide more transportation options, and curb the largest source of pollution that contributes to climate change.

The announcement marks the next big step for a handful of states and the District of Columbia that pledged to begin development of a regional policy during the Bonn Climate Change Summit in November 2017. With the addition of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, the regional clean transportation initiative is demonstrating growth and strong momentum that could prompt more states to join in support of a regional plan. 

“Our transportation system is in crisis, and fixing decades of neglect will require strong, aggressive leadership at all levels of government,” said Bruce Ho, sr. advocate, climate and clean energy, for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This commitment from Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states to transform and modernize our aging transportation — from cleaner cars and trucks to more efficient buses, trains, and walkable and bikeable communities — will make us safer and healthier and help meet the transportation needs of all residents.

TCI's announcement comes on the heels of an announcement made earlier this week that the California Air Resources Board voted to mandate that all transit agencies in California operate 100% zero-emission transit buses by 2040, and to use the transition to invest in workforce development training programs in manufacturing, infrastructure installation, and maintenance.