SEPTA will postpone some major projects
By John M. Roman | Delaware County Daily Times
April 8, 2010
Major transit projects, including some in Delaware County, will be affected by the federal government’s decision not to implement a toll on Interstate 80, according to SEPTA.
The most significant project in the county that will be affected is the $80 million, three-mile extension of the R3 Regional Rail line from Elwyn to Wawa, according to SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney.
“Once we complete the engineering/design work under way right now — unless there is funding for it — it will simply be put on a definite hold,” he said Wednesday.
Ground was broken Nov. 16 on property purchased from Elwyn Institute for an additional parking lot with 90 spaces added to the current 233 slots. The “shovel-ready” project expected to be completed by the summer will be funded by nearly $900,000 in federal stimulus money to alleviate the overcrowded parking situation.
Affecting all SEPTA customers systemwide will be the delay in implementing a new state-of-the-art fare collection system expected to cost about $100 million. “We’re in the process right now of reviewing bids for that project,” Maloney said.
The rejection will jeopardize more than 20 projects worth in excess of $450 million, including the $100 million reconstruction of the City Hall Station on the Broad Street Line and the replacement of aging electrical substations on the Regional Rail system in the city at a cost of $67 million.
The Federal Highway Administration said it rejected the application because money from I-80 tolls could only have been used to operate and maintain the highway itself, but Pennsylvania’s application went beyond that.
Gov. Ed Rendell, who disagreed with the federal government’s reasons for rejecting it, on Tuesday said this action eliminates a key source of money to pay for highway, bridge and mass transit projects across the state. He had lobbied heavily for the tolling application.
PennDOT said the $472 million from the proposed I-80 tolls in the 2010-11 budget year would have been part of $2.9 billion in highway and bridge improvements and $1.6 billion in state and federal support for mass transit.
“The loss of this funding would hobble the growth and rebuilding of the SEPTA system that our customers deserve and expect,” said SEPTA General Manager Joseph M. Casey.
Tom Babcock of Springfield, a SEPTA board member, said, “the biggest disappointment is pushing back the Elwyn-Wawa extension. We’ve been planning this project for the 10 years I’ve been on the board.
“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board, talk to legislators and figure another way to fill that (funding) gap,” Babcock said. “It’s not just transit, it’s roads and bridges, too.”
He pointed out that there are two major east-west highways, I-80 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
“So why should the people in the southern half of the state be unfairly charged tolls while folks along the I-80 corridor aren’t?” Babcock said. As a result, turnpike fares are going to go up every year for the foreseeable future, he said.
Interstate 80 spans 311 miles across Pennsylvania from Ohio to New Jersey and carries some of the state’s heaviest truck volume, about 10,000 trucks daily, with 60 percent of its freight traffic ending up in other states.
U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, D-7, of Edgmont, said, “the I-80 issue requires more creativity than has been shown to date and a transparent, accountable working partnership between Harrisburg and Washington.
“This is not an issue that has developed overnight, but rather over decades of neglect,” Sestak said. “We have always known that relief from the Federal Highway Administration was far from guaranteed and we have the ability to obtain more resources by other means.
”Sestak said tolls would unfairly impact the pocketbooks of residents who live along I-80 and small businesses. He recommended a severance tax instead on Marcellus Shale drilling, which should have begun this year, to alleviate the burden of infrastructure costs.
Incumbent U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, who is being challenged by Sestak in the Democratic primary election, said, “I will be using my position on the Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee and the Environment and Public Works Committee to get funding for Pennsylvania’s highways and transit system to help make up for the shortfall from Secretary LaHood’s rejection of tolling I-80.
”Christopher Nicholas, Specter’s campaign manager, and Kate Kelly, a Specter aide, said Sestak flip-flopped again on the I-80 tolling issue, pointing out that Sestak supported the tolling in August 2008 while still maintaining he was not outright opposed to tolling, and was called an opponent of tolling last month in a Philadelphia Inquirer article.In a copy of a letter to then-Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters dated July 18, 2008, e-mailed by Kelly to the Daily Times, Sestak, along with several other members of Congress, fully supported I-80 tolling.According to a new report from the American Public Transportation Association, SEPTA is among a growing number of transit agencies facing major budget cuts due to declining government funding.
APTA’S report, “Impact of the Recession on Public Transportation Agencies,” shows that 84 percent of public transit agencies are taking or considering drastic action due to budget deficits, such as raising fares, reducing service and laying off employees.
SEPTA will be forced to cut $110 million — more than 25 percent of its capital budget for Fiscal Year 2011 — as a result of I-80 not being tolled.
I 80 Toll Decision Well-received Locally
WYTV, Youngstown, OH
April 7, 2010
"It's a tremendous victory for rural Pennsylvania. We are very excited about this decision." That was the reaction of State Rep. Michele Brooks, R-Mercer Co., following news that for the third time since 2007, federal highway officials have rejected Pennsylvania's request to make I-80 a toll road.
Governor Ed Rendell had been pushing the idea, which would have brought in an estimated $450 million. But the plan called for the Keystone State to use the revenue for highways, bridges, and mass transit systems statewide. Federal rules require tolls be dedicated to improving the roads they're collected on.
The decision is welcome news to businesses and small towns along I-80. They rely on motorists taking breaks and getting off the road for meals, to shop or even sight-see. "They are ecstatic, and it means the economy of the I-80 corridor will be able to stay viable and grow as we come out of the recession," said George Gerhart, Shenango Valley Chamber of Commerce executive director. "It will positively effect not only the economy but tourism. And companies do not have to be worried now.
"Businesses like Hodge Foundry won't have to worry about higher fees to transport their products around the world. "The northern tier would've been devastated by tolling of I-80, so this is the right decision," said Rep. Dick Stevenson, R-Mercer Co.
But the Governor said it creates a "dire problem" that will have to be addressed. "Let's try to hammer out the best possible solution for the people of Pennsylvania," said Rendell. He is calling an emergency meeting of state lawmakers. He will now look into leasing the highway to raise funds.
"I think it'll make for difficult decisions ahead as we work to fill holes from money that would've come from tolling," said Rep. Stevenson.
A higher gas tax would be unpopular, so lawmakers might consider raising fees on a host of other state services.