A recent report calls for Pennsylvania state and local officials to address the state’s looming transportation funding crisis.
Transit agencies throughout the state have been notified state capital funding will decrease dramatically in 2020 while operating funds will remain stagnant. System costs are expected to increase annually.
The reduction in funding will cause project and procurement delays and negatively impact service.
The report was conducted by Southeast Partnership for Mobility in collaboration with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) and in coordination with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).
“There are two challenges addressed in this report: First, the current statewide funding system is just not sustainable; second, even at current funding levels, economic growth is limited,” SEPTA Chairman Pasquale T. Deon Sr. said. “A statewide solution to Act 44 is needed. Southeast Pennsylvania and local communities need enabling legislation to help raise regional revenues to invest in transit and Turnpike projects to accommodate and accelerate regional growth.”
Act 44 required the PTC to provide PennDOT with $450 million annually for highways, bridges and public transit. In 2013, it was modified to send the payments solely to transit.
PTC payments to PennDOT will be deduced to $50 million in 2022.