Mass transit part of transportation puzzle
HARRISBURG - Mass transit systems would receive one-third of the $1 billion in new funding proposed by Gov. Ed Rendell to shore up an increasingly burdened transportation network.
The lion's share of that mass transit aid would flow to the large, expensive and deteriorating systems serving riders in metro Philadelphia and Allegheny County.
A smaller portion would be split among the 18 systems serving mid-sized cities, including Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton and Pottsville, and 16 systems serving rural areas of Pennsylvania.
Under the governor's proposal, the other $700 million would go for road and bridge work.
Harrisburg's support for mass transit in the two major urban areas is a sore spot for some lawmakers, especially in the Republican-controlled Senate, which is very skeptical of Rendell's proposal to levy an 8 percent tax on oil company profits and increase 70 motorist fees to generate needed revenue. The new revenue would close a $472 million revenue gap caused by the federal government's rejection of Interstate 80 tolls and start to address a broader $3 billion underfunding problem.
Sen. John Gordner, R-27, Berwick, a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, is among the most vocal on that topic.
He said he thinks road and bridge projects warrant a greater funding priority than they receive currently under a 2007 law. One way to achieve that would be to reduce the disproportionate share of state aid going to SEPTA and the Port Authority of Allegheny County, the two large urban systems, he said.
A survey several years ago of the top 50 transit systems nationwide found they drew their funding in one-third shares from the state, local government and rider fares, said Gordner. Yet, SEPTA and PAT receive more than 70 percent of their funding from the state, he said. Meanwhile, the new funding would only underwrite $60,000 worth of mass transit projects in the 27th District.
"Any transportation funding budget should go more to roads and bridges," said Gordner.
In testimony last month before the Senate panel, Rendell provided several examples of century-old bridges serving SEPTA lines that need to be replaced or rehabilitated. He has argued that mass transit, in both urban and rural areas, supports the economy by giving thousands affordable rides to work and schools and reduces the need for new highway construction.
Mass transit agencies face service cuts and fare hikes due to the revenue gap, said the Transportation Department. They are unable to replace aging buses and repair crumbling infrastructure.
The department has compiled a list of $900 million worth of mass transit capital projects that could be done over a four-year period. A shot of new funding would enable the department to tackle that backlog.
"We could start to make some real progress on that list of unmet needs," said PennDOT spokesman Rich Kirkpatrick.
Nearly $10 million worth in public transit projects in the three engineering districts covering Northeast Pennsylvania are on that list. They include: $375,000 to purchase vehicles for County of Lackawanna Transit System; a $475,000 vehicle purchase for Luzerne County Transportation Authority; $100,000 to complete an intermodal facility in Pottsville; and $900,000 to purchase vehicles for the Endless Mountains Transportation Authority.
But this amount pales in comparison with $418 million worth of SEPTA projects on the list. These include a new City Hall Station in Philadelphia and several bridge replacements.
The head of a transportation advocacy group urged senators to look for ways to bridge the urban-rural divide in attitudes about transportation.
Rural areas and small towns will need alternatives as driving becomes less affordable due to long-term increases in the cost of gasoline, testified Peter Javsicas, executive director of Pennsylvanians for Transportation Solutions.
Pennsylvania could borrow an idea from Georgia where different regions will decide how to use the revenue from a one percent sales tax earmarked for transportation, he said.
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