If you thought the only thing Massachusetts loved more than Dunkin’ runs and traffic snarls on the Pike was legislating driving, come again. Beacon Hill is now wrestling with a bill that may soon make the word “commute” feel like a moral judgment.
Senate Bill 2246 (officially titled “An Act Aligning the Commonwealth’s Transportation Plans With Its Mandates and Goals for Reducing Emissions and Vehicle Miles Traveled”) is barreling through the legislature and already sparking a firestorm of hot takes from every corner of the internet. Critics are calling it climate-policy overreach disguised as civic wokeness; supporters say it’s the long-overdue update the state’s lousy transit habits desperately need.
The Core Conundrum
At its heart, the bill doesn’t slap caps on your car’s odometer (at least not yet) and doesn’t impose fines if you go on too many Saturday Taco runs. Instead, it requires the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to set goals for reducing statewide vehicle miles traveled (VMT) (that’s the total number of miles driven by all vehicles in the state) and to bake those targets into the Commonwealth’s climate and transportation planning processes.
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