Traffic congestion in Massachusetts has reached crisis proportions. And while some leaders and officials assure it’s a “symptom of success,” that explanation offers little solace to Bay Staters stuck in mind-numbing traffic everyday. To top it off, gas and diesel-burning cars, trucks, and trains dominate greenhouse gas emissions in our state.

This week on Gateways, Jordan Stutt, the Acadia Center’s Carbon Programs Director, and Sen. Eric Lesser of the First Hampden and Hampshire district join Tracy to talk about how they’re addressing this problem. They discuss a bill co-filed by the Senator and House Rep. Lori Ehrlich to promote clean, reliable, and equitable transportation through the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI). This regional collaboration of 12 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states plus the District of Columbia promises to reduce pollution and carbon emissions through a cap-and-invest trust fund. By targeting all revenues to statewide transportation-related projects, TCI could generate billions of dollars for innovations and improvements that will ease traffic, reduce emissions, and improve mobility for people without adding smog- and congestion-producing vehicles to the roads and rails that crisscross our Gateway Cities.