 |
 |
February, 2005 The Pennsylvania Alliance of Public Transportation Advocates (PAPTA) sent a letter on February 7 to the leadership in the General Assembly calling for action to prevent the proposed fare hikes and service cuts that would go into effect on March 1 and March 6, respectively. PAPTA cited the need for the development of a stable and reliable source of funding for public transportation to be incorporated into the Commonwealth's Fiscal Year 2005/06 budget. Click here to read the letter. On February 14th, a rally sponsored by the Pennsylvania Transit Coalition www.patransit.org, was held in Harrisburg to call for a solution to the proposed fare hikes and service cuts not only in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, but for all the Commonwealth's transit systems. According to today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the only solution to prevent the service cuts and fare hikes will be an additional flex funding proposal (shift highway project dollars to public transportation) prior to March 1. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05048/458758.stm. Save Our Transit, a member of PAPTA, is organizing an effort to contact SPC members to thank them for granting the first flex approved on January 31st and call on them to approve the additional amount needed for the next flex funding proposal to present the service cuts and fare hikes. October, 2004 The Port Authority has announced a proposal to increase fares and reduce service to respond to the $30 million deficit in the current budget. Public comments are being accepted until November 23rd until 4 PM. A public hearing will be held on November 4th at the Sheraton Station Square to take oral testimony. Please see the attached announcement and press release for details. It would be beneficial to submit your comments on the proposed fare hikes and service reductions to Governor Rendell, your state senator and representative, and Chief Executive Onorato. The following postcard may be used to write to your state senator and representative. Please see www.legis.state.pa.us to identify your legislator. Legislator Postcard October, 2004 On October 5, Transportation for Livable Communities attended Ticket to Ride, a statewide rally for public transportation in Harrisburg. TLC first attended a legislative breakfast sponsored by Pennsylvanians for Transportation Solutions (PenTrans), a member of the Pennsylvania Alliance of Public Transportation Advocates (PAPTA). House Minority Whip Mike Veon, House Transportation Committee Chairman Richard Geist and Governor Ed Rendell all spoke and took questions regarding SB 1162 and HB 2697.
Senator Greenleaf and Representative Taylor then spoke at a rally sponsored by PenTrans to seek support for SB 1162 and HB 2697, respectively. David Ginns addressed the rally in support of these bills as a representative of PAPTA. It is important to note that there is a constitutional restriction on the use of gas tax for public transportation, i.e., it can only be used for roadway repair and construction. Furthermore, the funding proposal for public transportation does include allocations for all transit systems, urban, suburban, and rural, not just Port Authority and SEPTA in the Philadelphia region. PAPTA continues to maintain its call for a stable and reliable source of funding for public transportation as alternative funding mechanisms may be developed in the legislative process. Another rally will be scheduled for Harrisburg to be held tentatively on November 10th. The following articles provide coverage on Ticket to Ride. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_258783.html http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04283/393047.stm http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04280/391079.stm http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/pennsylvania/counties/montgomery_county/9844985.htm (Registration required) September, 2004 The Port Authority along with SEPTA in Philadelphia has announced that public hearings will be held to propose fare hikes and service cuts to meet their current budget shortfalls. Port Authority has provided a letter of support for persons to send to their legislators. The letter calls for support of Senate Bill 1162 and House Bill 2697. Additionally, Port Authority has provided background information on the funding proposal contained within these bills to provide a stable and reliable source of funds for public transportation. Click on the following links to access the documents. Take Action to Save Public Transportation Budget Challenges Facing Port Authority Recent Cost Savings Initiatives Senate Bill 1162/House Bill 2697 Fact Sheet Port Authority of Allegheny County - General Information and Statistics A rally and legislative breakfast will be held on October 5th in Harrisburg (link to media advisory file). June 2004 Senator Jay Costa hosted a press conference with other members of the Allegheny County state legislative delegation on Friday, June 18 to announce Senate and House bills that will provide a stable and reliable source of funding for public transportation. The Transportation for Livable Communities project urges you to contact your state Senator to endorse SB 1162, found at http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/BI/ALL/2003//0//SB1162.htm and your state Representative to endorse HB 2697, found here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/BI/ALL/2003//0//HB2697.htm. To reach your state Senator or Representative please see: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/find.cfm. A letter dated June 21 from PAPTA to endorse these two bills is available at: http://www.sustainablepittsburgh.org/NewFrontPage/june_21_Rendell_Letter.htm. Please e-mail David Ginns at mailto:dginns@sustainablepittsburgh.org with any questions or if you would like a copy of the Pennsylvania Alliance of Public Transportation Advocates (PAPTA). The PAPTA platform endorses the Pennsylvania Public Transportation Association's funding proposal that is incorporated into the subject bills. April 2004 In
April 2004, a letter was sent to the Governor from PAPTA concerning
the need to link public transportation to economic development in
the recently passed economic stimulus package. In March 2004, PAPTA attended the House and Senate Appropriation Committees Hearings on the PENNDOT budget for Fiscal Year 2004/05. PAPTA prepared a revised platform and transmittal letter to the Governor. To access the letter, please click here. December 2003 David Ginns of Transportation for Livable Communities arranged several meetings with Senate and House key members and their staffs to discuss the public transportation crisis on December 8th and 9th in Harrisburg. Joining TLC was Fred Brown of the Pittsburgh Transportation Equity Project, Stu Strickland of Save Our Transit, Richard LeGrande of Allegheny County Transit Council, and Marc Stier of the Northwest Campaign for Public Transportation in Philadelphia. A letter was sent to Craig Shuey, Executive Director, Senate Transportation Committee, to provide a response to the proposal he discussed with the meeting participants. TLC will continue working with its partners to develop a more formal position statement and add members to the coalition addressing public transportation. If you would like to be a member of this coalition, please contact David at dginns@sustainablepittsburgh.org. View the text of the letter by clicking here. June 2003 The Transportation for Livable Communities Project is a partnership of Sustainable Pittsburgh and the Surface Transportation Policy Project serving to advance transportation reform in southwestern Pennsylvania. TLC has joined forces with the Campaign to Build Pennsylvania Public Transportation to address the public transportation funding crisis in Pennsylvania. There are two primary concerns. One, restore the funding cuts to public transportation operations that are contained in the current Fiscal Year 2003/04 (beginning July 1, 2003) state budget. Second, develop a stable and reliable source of funding for public transportation operations at both the state and federal level for future years. A
copy of the letter to send to your state legislators is included
at Sustainable Pittsburgh’s web site http://www.sustainablepittsburgh.org/Transportation_Funding_Crisis_Letter.htm.
A link to find your legislators is below. Please call David Ginns
of TLC at 412/258-6652 or e-mail dginns@sustainablepittsburgh.org
if you have any questions. |
|||||||||||
|