AASHTO Journal, 28 June 2013
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation this week launched a website to inform the public about what could be possible for the state’s transportation system, both locally and statewide, if additional investment in transportation was made.
“I made a commitment to Pennsylvanians, and their elected officials, to create a map showing the benefits of additional transportation funding because Pennsylvanians have a right to see how their precious dollars are being invested,” said PennDOT Secretary Barry Schoch in a statement. “This tool allows the public to see how the state, their region or local area of interest would benefit from the raised level of investment.”
The new website, Decade of Investment, allows users to view projects specifically in their region. Projects can be sorted by county, other project partners, state Senate district, or state House district. PennDOT also included a page on the site dedicated to educating the public on what would happen should there be no additional transportation investment in Pennsylvania, specifically what that means for public safety (ambulances take longer to get to those in need), bridges (the number of deficient bridges will continue to rise), roadways (worse road conditions, more congestion, and more damage done to vehicles due to roadway problems), transit systems (more delays and an increase in roadway congestion as a result of reduced transit service), and the economy (more congestion means commerce suffers and prices of goods will go up).
The site coincides with Gov. Tom Corbett’s recent pitches for a transportation funding plan, which he released in February. Corbett’s plan would invest an additional $1.8 billion each year into the state’s transportation system. Corbett’s plan would decrease the flat tax portion of the gas tax by about 17 percent over two years and eliminate the price caps on the wholesale fuel tax, among other measures.
PennDOT’s new site is available here. Additional information on Corbett’s plan is available here.