Senate Transportation Committee Chairwoman Kim Ward (R- Westmoreland County) recently said she will create a legislative working group to address the major challenges facing the state’s transportation system.
“We are faced with multiple risks to Pennsylvania’s transportation system, including, but not limited to, the pending litigation against the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC), and the Pennsylvania State Police’s (PSP) reliance on the Motor License Fund (MLF),” Ward said at a press conference hosted by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania. “These risks are creating uncertainty for managing highways, bridges, and public transportation in this Commonwealth.”
A 2007 law requires PTC transfer $450 million annually to support public transportation through 2022 then $50 million annually through 2057. Tolls have increased annually since 2009, and PTC has accumulated an estimated $6 billion in debt to support these mandatory transfer payments. In total, the PTC is approximately $11.8 billion in debt.
The General Assembly capped the PSP appropriation at $802 million, and it will decrease four percent annually until fiscal year 2027-28.
The group will evaluate the options and draft legislation to end PTC’s transfer payments to PennDOT and develop a legislative plan to improve public transportation.
When the work is completed, a second legislative working group will accelerate the provisions from the 2016 Fiscal Code that reduces PennDOT’s transfer payments to the state police.