PHIA News Digest – Vol. 2, No. 35
House GOP to test budget-balancing plan in growing stalemate
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives will return to session Monday for the first time in seven weeks as a lengthening budget stalemate is drawing warnings by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf that he is out of options to make payments on time. Hanging in the balance is $2.2 billion in program funding — about 7 percent of approved spending — and another downgrade to Pennsylvania’s battered credit rating.
Agency heads voice concern over Pa. GOP budget proposal
Agencies are raising alarms over a Pennsylvania GOP-backed House plan to redirect billions of dollars to fill gaps in the state’s badly unbalanced budget.
PennDOT, Leslie Richards to hold town hall on women, diversity at Penn State
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Leslie Richards is visiting Penn State Monday to help host a town hall for students and young professionals on the importance of women and diversity in transportation, engineering and public service.
Philadelphia port sees continued growth in imports
The Philadelphia port continues to be on a roll, with more containerized freight, more liquid bulk cargoes, and more cars arriving at Philadelphia’s 15 piers and terminals on the Delaware River.
2017 Highway Safety Survey
The survey should take about 5 minutes to complete and all responses, including the “comments” fields, are completely anonymous. Read more
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 2, No. 34
Bike fatalities increase 12 percent as Pittsburgh, PennDOT work to improve safety
The numbers are stark and concerning: Deaths from bicycle accidents increased 12.2 percent nationwide in 2015, the highest percentage increase in any traffic category that year and the biggest yearly increase in bike deaths in two decades.
Editorial: Bypass improvements should be worth the wait
It’s quite understandable that Berks County motorists are eager to see improvements to the stretch of Route 422 known as the West Shore Bypass.
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 2, No. 33
RabbitTransit seeks ride-sharing expansion options in York, surrounding counties
Rabbit Transit officials want to connect aging individuals to modern-day technology through ride-sharing apps like Uber if it’s financially prudent. A six-month pilot program conducted in York County is guiding officials to understand how best to use all available resources right at their fingertips.
Work zone crashes, deaths on the rise
Carl Antonelli knows just how dangerous road work can be. Four years ago, the PennDOT employee was struck by a car while working as a construction flagger during a roadway chipping project in Findlay, Allegheny County.
Smart to start study for user fee
The I-95 Coalition is overseeing a federally funded study featuring a 50-motorist pilot program that will monitor driving habits for three months to see how a user-fee concept — meaning tolls — may work to offset potential losses.
Transportation innovation’s crucial ingredient
For the revolution to succeed, smart regulators and thoughtful entrepreneurs will need to work together.
Pennsylvania, other states worry about life after gas tax
As more people plug in their cars, transportation planners are starting to wonder how Pennsylvania and other states will plug budget holes if gas tax revenue begins to decline. That’s the issue at the heart of a federally-funded study underway by a group called the I-95 Coalition, a transportation policy organization covering the states crossed by the interstate.
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 2, No. 31
Leaders discuss importance of regional transportation
Fifty-five percent of Indiana County residents who are employed commute to jobs beyond the county line. That piece of information from a discussion Thursday on the Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus underscores the importance of the concept of a regional transportation system and of connecting one county to another.
Legislature should create single agency for transportation
For the 10th time in 10 years, the state Turnpike Commission voted recently to raise tolls. This time it’s an average 6 percent increase.
These are the 3 things the US needs to do to stay competitive on infrastructure: Opinion
How does infrastructure in the U.S. compare to that of the rest of the world? It depends on who you ask.
Infrastructure lessons from one of the nation’s first P3s
The PA turnpike was one of the country’s first great public-private infrastructure projects, built by private contractors, financed with revenue bonds and repaid through drivers’ tolls. We’re going to have to do something as innovative as that if we’re going to deal with the infrastructure problems we’re facing right now.
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 2, No. 30
Infrastructure lessons from one of the nation’s first P3s
The PA turnpike was one of the country’s first great public-private infrastructure projects, built by private contractors, financed with revenue bonds and repaid through drivers’ tolls. We’re going to have to do something as innovative as that if we’re going to deal with the infrastructure problems we’re facing right now.
Ride-sharing’s uneven effect on Pennsylvania transit agencies
Ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft began operating in Pennsylvania cities in 2014, but have had divergent effects on public transit agencies in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
The number of people who ride buses, trains and inclines in Pittsburgh has remained fairly steady, though fewer riders seem to be taking the last buses of the night, said Adam Brandolph, spokesperson for the Port Authority of Allegheny County.
Pa. speed camera bill gets boost from federal study
A proposal to bring speed cameras to Roosevelt Boulevard got a boost this week from a federal report encouraging states to approve the devices to make roads safer.
The report, issued Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board, “is decisive evidence that automatic speed enforcement is a critical tool we should apply towards preventing deaths and serious injuries,” Mayor Kenney said in a statement.
Cashless turnpike tolls coming to region
Drivers who travel the Pennsylvania Turnpike through Lackawanna County and northern Luzerne County should have a quicker ride starting next spring. The turnpike commission plans to unveil cashless tolling at the toll plazas just south of the Keyser Avenue interchange in Taylor and just south of the Clarks Summit interchange in South Abington Twp. Read more
