PENNSYLVANIA ALLIANCE OF

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ADVOCATES

  DEVELOPMENT OF A STABLE AND RELIABLE SOURCE OF FUNDS FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

POSITION PAPER - JANUARY 2005

MISSION :

The Pennsylvania Alliance of Public Transportation Advocates (PAPTA) is comprised of several local and regional transportation advocacy and transportation related-business organizations. Our individual organizations focus upon the funding and operational needs of their local public transportation systems and the role of these systems in improving their communities and creating jobs in the transportation industry. PAPTA's membership is representative of the urban, suburban, and rural areas of the Commonwealth. PAPTA seeks to address these issues through advocating for state and federal legislative reform to achieve these objectives.

PRINCIPLES:

• Public Transportation is an essential public service that has far-reaching social, economic and environmental implications.
   
• Through its ability to reduce congestion and provide access to jobs, Public Transportation is critical to economic development efforts that encourage investment in existing communities, urban, suburban and rural, and reinforce local land use plans. The December 2003 Brookings Institute Study, "Back to Prosperity: A Competitive Agenda for Pennsylvania " that addresses this need should be used as a guide for the Commonwealth's investment in public transportation.
   
• Public Transportation provides a social equity function through the investment of public resources to serve low-income, disabled, rural residents and other citizens who do not have the means or ability to use a personal automobile.
   
• Public Transportation is critical to maintaining a healthy and sustainable environment through its ability to reduce air pollution, water pollution, traffic deaths and injuries, and by the potential it creates for more walkable, more livable communities.
   
• Public Transportation is only one component of the multimodal transportation system that is needed to accommodate persons, goods, and freight to move Pennsylvania forward. Clearly, driving and our highway system provide great benefits, but the current dependence on automobiles creates far-reaching public health and social costs that burden everyone, whether or not they drive. T herefore, funding sources for public transportation must be equitably balanced against roadway and other modes of travel.   The proceeds of these funding sources should be part of general fund revenues designated for public transportation. This will ensure a stable and reliable source of funding for public transportation agencies.
   
• Increasingly, there is a call for improved Public Transportation - not only from environmental and social change advocacy groups, but also from ordinary citizens, community and neighborhood development organizations, business groups, and institutional public and private leadership. Polls show growing support for this trend - even among drivers. Legislators have an opportunity to respond to this widely accepted need.
   
• Public Transportation requires a stable and reliable source of funds to expand and improve the services provided by Public Transportation agencies. Transit agencies cannot operate and plan effectively when funding is at the whim of each year's state budget.
   
• Improved Public Transportation will ensure that not only transit dependent citizens have access to Public Transportation, but that everyone will be empowered to make choices about where to live and how to get where they're going.
   
• The principles of Fix It First and Context Sensitive Design/Solutions should be incorporated into roadway improvement projects (reconstruction or new construction). This would include provision of bus shelters, benches, and bays, and coordinated traffic signals to facilitate traffic flow, bike lanes and sidewalks. PENNDOT should be directed to develop additional resources and programs to accomplish this objective in partnership with MPOs and RPOs and their respective public transportation entities.

Proposal Endorsement

Our coalition endorses the Pennsylvania Public Transportation Association (PPTA) proposal to develop a long-term, stable and reliable source of funds for Public Transportation. Adopting measures such as those put forward by the PPTA proposal will ensure that the following goals can be effectively pursued:

1. Promote the creation of a safer and more balanced transportation system that allows people a choice in mobility.
    
2. Provide funds to maintain our existing transportation assets in top condition.
    
3. Support projects and services that encourage investment in existing communities, urban, suburban and rural, and reinforce local land use plans.
    
4. Give priority to transportation investments that result in cleaner air, cleaner water and more efficient use of land.
    
5. Promote an integrated system of pedestrian and bicycle pathways that provide s equal access to jobs for those who walk or bicycle, improves public health and ensures the safety of our children as they travel to and from school.
    
6. Support reliable, affordable transportation that serves all members of the workforce, whatever their wage level, connecting housing to employment centers.
    
7. Utilize strategies that favor investments in transit oriented development, public transportation infrastructure and intelligent transportation systems to improve mobility and reduce congestion on the existing transportation network versus building new roadways. Such investments have been demonstrated to create more jobs and economic benefits to the community.