Senate bill 2246 in Massachusetts was introduced in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in that state while simultaneously investing in other modes of transportation — but should states in the United States restrict how much their citizens drive motor vehicles?
Should States Restrict How Much Their Citizens Drive?
The bill — along with a petition — was first referred to the committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy back on Thursday, February 27, 2025; and it was reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on Senate Ways and Means on Thursday, December 11, 2025.
Also known as the Freedom to Move Act, the bill is based on similar pilot programs in the states of Colorado and Minnesota, where new ways to tax drivers based on how far they travel are already being tested.
According to Cynthia Stone Creem — who is a Democrat and represents Norfolk and Middlesex as a senator of the commonwealth of Massachusetts — the bill “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.”
Those additional choices are in the form of trains, buses, ferries, and bike paths as four of numerous examples.
The bill also recognizes that Massachusetts 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”, according to Creem. “That’s why the bill allows for regional flexibility and supports investments that make sense locally.”
Final Boarding Call
Although driving a motor vehicle is not a right, freedom of movement is a fundamental right that is protected by the Constitution of the United States — and I cannot help but wonder if any part of this bill could potentially restrict how much a person can drive should it be enacted into law. Is this bill more about expanding the authority of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts into the lives of private citizens and less about cleaner air and the expansion of other transportation options?
I support initiatives to improve the air quality which we breathe; and I am not an opponent to public transportation — but I am not sure exactly what problem this bill is attempting to solve. In addition to an increasing number of electric vehicles and other zero-emissions vehicles that are on the road in the United States, motor vehicles with combustion engines have been burning cleaner fuel in recent years with improved mileage on a unit of fuel — and I have no reason to believe at this time that that trend will cease to continue…
Photograph ©2022 by Brian Cohen.
