RenewPA Applauds Governor’s Leadership in Transportation Policy
Governor Ed Rendell delivered his budget address to a joint session of the General Assembly at noon, February 6. 2007. We believe that the best transportation funding solution must be comprehensive and long-range.
RenewPA will support reforms that:
- Fix it first, by investing in maintenance and reconstruction before building new;
- Adequately and sustainably fund our public transportation systems; and
- Strongly link land use and transportation funding.
Click here for the link to the Governor’s website, which includes the text of his address and a variety of supporting materials.
Click here for our brief statement in reaction to the Governor’s budget address.
Testimony - 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania Testifies on Transportation, November 1, 2007
Testimony was given to the House Majority Policy Committee, in
Mt.
Lebanon, PA. Please
click here for the testimony.
Smart-Growth Policy Spokesman Yearns for Straight Talk on Transit Needs
Fed up with wishful cliches about alleviating congestion through new roads, while population numbers and gas prices and environmental risks escalate, former Baltimore Sun reporter and Maryland smart-growth policy spokesman John W. Frece would like to finally hear "any of our mid-Atlantic governors" make it clear that "our congested roads do not reflect a failure of transportation," but "a failure of land use," and that easing traffic without mass transit is not possible. For the entire Smart Growth Online article, please
click here.
Pennsylvania Infrastructure Project (sponsored by the Heinz Endowments and the Urban Land Institute) - Report from Smart Transportation for Focused Growth: Best Practices
On June 11th, Southwestern Pennsylvania stakeholders came together to discuss the importance of sound land use policy in setting transportation priorities for Pennsylvania and the southwestern region. National and local experts addressed the importance of a comprehensive approach to infrastructure planning and land use.
Six strong, workable ideas for Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania emerged. Those Smart Strategies are detailed in the Report from Smart Transportation for Focused Growth: Best Practices provided here. Please click here for more information.
Roads not taken in funding SEPTA?, June 17, 2007
"When Pennsylvania legislators complain that SEPTA already gets more state funding and less local funding than most transit agencies in the United States, they're right.
But whose fault is that?
In Pennsylvania, the state prevents regional transit agencies and local governments from raising money in many of the ways used by their counterparts elsewhere." Please
click here for the complete Philadelphia Inquirer article.
Testimony - Brookings' Bruce Katz testifies on transportation, February 28, 2007
"Federal transportation and housing policy, in short, needs an extreme makeover...and I will lay out the framework and set of principles to guide reform efforts going forward." To read a copy of his testimony, please click here.
Editorial - Big oil a fat target, February 19, 2007
"Gov. Rendell wants to tax oil company profits to pay for mass transit. It's a new, magic-bullet kind of idea for dealing with a chronic problem - mass transit's money woes - that Harrisburg chronically lacks the political will to address." For the complete Philadelphia Inquirer editorial, please
click here.
SEPTA says fares will rise, service could drop, February 16, 2007
"Gloomy transit forecasts are a rite of spring, but the agency's chief said this one's for real. Said a board member: Don't panic." For the complete Philadelphia Inquirer article, please
click here.
Transportation Funding and Reform Commission Final Report Released; Legislative Process Begins Now, November 13, 2006
The bipartisan Transportation Funding and Reform Commission issued its final report on November 13, offering a funding solution to pay for critical improvements to Pennsylvania's highways and bridges. The commission recommended $900 million in additional funding for highways and bridges and $760 million in targeted public transit funding.
“No new revenue without reforms,” Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler said in releasing the report. “Our highway and bridges and public transit systems are critical to the economic well-being and success of our businesses and communities."
Click here for the press release.
Click here for the full report.
Click here to go directly to Chapter 4, Growth and Development. The commission adopted as a guiding principle: “Transportation must be integrated with land use, economic development and environmental policies, programs, and goals.” It recommends linking land use and transportation through incentive-based funding, “smart transportation” design practices, and preconditioning major capacity improvements on a community land use/transportation vision that provides for sustainable investments.
In an interview with the media, Janet Milkman, president and CEO of 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, said, "You can't pave your way out of congestion by building new roads. You need to give people alternative ways of getting around whether it's a sidewalk, bus or train."
Click here for Janet’s statement on the Commission report.
Click here for her comments in the Sunbury Daily Item.
REPORT CALLS FOR MULTI-PRONGED APPROACH TO STATE’S TRANSPORTATION AND TRANSIT WOES: Non-partisan study says this is an opportunity to fix the way transportation investments are made in Pennsylvania, November 13, 2006
A non-partisan study commissioned by a diverse group of Pennsylvania business, industry, environmental, cultural and community groups has concluded that the Commonwealth has a rare opportunity in the coming weeks and months to fix the way transportation investments are made in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Economy League (PEL), commissioned by the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors; 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania; the CEO Council for Growth, an affiliate of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce; and the William Penn Foundation, benchmarked Pennsylvania transportation conditions and programs against similar industrialized states. The Pennsylvania Environmental Council and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development served on the advisory group for the study.
The study, “Investing in Transportation: A Benchmarking Study of Transportation Funding and Policy”, comes at a time when an IssuesPA/Pew poll shows transportation-related infrastructure to be the biggest infrastructure problem, according to Pennsylvanians. A clear majority of residents – 69 percent – believe efforts should be focused on repairing and upgrading roads, bridges and transit systems, rather than building new.
This independent examination of the challenges facing Pennsylvania and the experiences of other states avoided duplicating work of other recent studies conducted by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Brookings Institution. The PEL report took a careful look at Pennsylvania’s particular transportation characteristics, compared our situation with that of similar states, and made an effort to uncover promising practices used in other states. The study was designed to complement the work of Pennsylvania’s Transportation Funding and Reform Commission.
For the press release on the study,
click here. For links to a summary and the full report,
click here.
