PHIA News Digest – Vol. 4, No. 19
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission proposes $31.7 billion in transportation projects through 2045
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission will begin a series of meetings Monday to display a draft long-range plan for the region that highlights $31.7 billion worth of expected transportation projects through 2045. The plan, called “SmartMoves for a Changing Region,” includes $17.3 billion for road and bridge projects, and $14.4 billion for transit projects.
Driver had $128,000 in unpaid Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls and fines
A Trevose, Pa. man is learning that there’s no such thing as a free ride on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Jeffrey Stiff is considered the state’s worst toll evader. Stiff has racked up nearly $128,000 in unpaid tolls and fines.
Here’s why SEPTA’s improvement projects are back on hold
If the transit agency isn’t able to resume bridge maintenance and other infrastructure projects, some of its routes could end up being at risk by this time next year.
PennDOT inspects Fort Duquesne Bridge after concrete chunks fall
PennDOT officials conducted an emergency inspection on the Fort Duquesne Bridge after pieces of concrete fell to the ground on the North Shore on Tuesday.
Pa. Turnpike toll lawsuit keeps SEPTA improvements on hold
SEPTA’s state funding is hovering at a more than 10-year low due to a federal lawsuit that just won’t go away.
PennDOT OKs funding for 27 freight-rail projects
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and PennDOT announced the approval of 27 freight-rail improvement projects and their state share of funding.
Philadelphia traffic ranked one of the worst, so how do we fix it?
Philadelphia’s commute is a near universal source of complaints. Traffic analytics firm, INRIX, ranks the city as the 9th most congested in the country and the 69th wrst in the world.
Landslide costs add to PennDOT’s funding challenges
In a typical year, PennDOT officials budget about $30 million for flooding and landslide damage. In 2018, they spent $127 million fixing that damage, according to PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards.
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 4, No. 18
$4.2B in gas tax diverted to state police
DePasquale said his new audit of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation shows the agency could be further along in repairing rough highways and fixing 2,829 structurally deficient bridges with the billions of dollars it has used instead to pay to State Police.
Our view: Find lasting state police funding fix
State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale on Thursday issued a reminder that all Pennsylvanians should chew on as they pay one of the nation’s highest gas taxes and yet regularly navigate crumbling roads and bridges meant to be fixed with that money.
Will crumbling bridges force Pennsylvania to approve a fee for State Police?
Harrisburg’s Market Street Bridge provided an appropriate backdrop Thursday, as Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Leslie Richards and Auditor General Eugene DePasquale called on the Legislature to stop diverting money to the State Police that’s supposed to pay for repairs to deteriorating infrastructure.
Professors and students weigh in on $2 million study of Philadelphia-Pittsburgh hyperloop
The hyperloop, proposed by 1997 College and Wharton graduate Elon Musk, would use electric propulsion to move people and freight through a low-pressure tube.
PennDOT to study how wind could affect vehicles on thruway bridge over Susquehanna River
What effect would winds like that have on vehicles on the nearly mile-long Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway bridge after it is finished in 2022? PennDOT wants answers and plans to gather data by installing wind monitors on the bridge across the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.
Three Pennsylvania bills seek local speed radar use
Multiple efforts underway at the Pennsylvania statehouse would authorize speed radar use by local police. In 2017, Senators voted in favor of nearly identical legislation. The bill failed to win support in the House.
Penn State named key partner in project to study truck platooning
The Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute (LTI) has announced that Penn State is one of seven key partners recently selected to participate in Phase 1 of a Truck Platooning Early Deployment Assessment.
Pavement problems with PennDOT pilot program
One year after PennDOT touted its use of recycled asphalt to pave rural roads, the agency now says the process failed.
PennDOT to build area’s first ‘diverging diamond’ at I-83 interchange
PennDOT has started work to build a new interchange at Interstate 83 Exit 4 in southern York County, and the end result will be unlike anything drivers have ever seen in this area.
Law to limit license suspensions for drug charges takes effect
A Pennsylvania law that ends the practice of suspending driver’s licenses for people convicted of drug offenses and other crimes unrelated to driving is now in effect. Under Act 95 of 2018, signed by Gov. Tom Wolf in October, driving privileges won’t be taken away for using, possessing or selling controlled substances.
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 4, No. 17
Finally automating the PA Turnpike could ease money woes, But what about toll collectors?
The transition to an all-electronic tolling system has been nearly a decade in the making; the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission first commissioned a feasibility study in 2010.
PennDOT expects to begin new $300M program for rural roads, municipal bridges this year
A year ago, Gov. Tom Wolf and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation included $300 million in the state budget for new programs to pave low-volume rural and commercial roads and fix structurally deficient bridges owned by municipalities. Then Mother Nature stepped in.
Interstate system deteriorating, with no fix in sight
A recent 600-page report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine — commissioned by the U.S. Transportation Department — concluded that federal funding for interstates should be increased from about $25 billion a year to $45 billion to $70 billion a year for the next 20 years just to bring the highways up to current design standards.
Lawmakers are trying to stop privatization of free medical trips for Medicaid recipients
State lawmakers from rural Pennsylvania are pushing back on a privatization measure slipped into last year’s state budget that would affect transportation for at least 150,000 Medicaid recipients.
Pa Turnpike to seek feedback on possible resumption of mass transit borrowing
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has decided to seek feedback from the bond market as it mulls possible resumption of borrowing for mass transit, borrowing that has been suspended due to a lawsuit over toll hikes.
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 4, No. 16
PennDOT project in Northumberland joins thruway in costing more due to unexpected findings
The estimated cost of the Duke Street reconstruction project in Northumberland has jumped from $13.7 million to $15.2 million.
Returning to stickers for Pa. car registrations: ‘A public safety issue’ or an annoying backtrack?
Under Rep. Barry Jozwiak’s plan, annual safety inspections and registration would become a two-step process, resulting in a single, two-purpose sticker to be affixed to license plates, just like the old days. Emissions check stickers would stay as they are.
Pa. lawmakers try to stop switch of paratransit funding to private brokers
State lawmakers Tuesday moved to delay — and eventually kill, they hope — a planned funding change that could severely reduce subsidized rides to doctors’ offices and other medical appointments for the poor and elderly in Pennsylvania.
Next leg of Allegheny Township hiking, biking trail to be completed this summer
Work on the next leg of the Wynn and Clara Tredway Trail might begin by the end of April. The goal is to have the project done by late August.
Small business owners bear brunt of costs from deteriorating infrastructure
From product damage and vehicle maintenance to employee safety, small business owners are dealing with the day-to-day costs and concerns of stalled infrastructure investment. There has been some movement at the state level, with Ohio, Alabama, and Arkansas passing gas tax legislation in 2019 to help fund infrastructure work, but Congress has remained stagnant on any overarching federal infrastructure legislation.
PHIA News Digest – Vol. 4, No. 15
Judge rejects lawsuit over Pennsylvania turnpike toll hikes
A federal judge is dismissing a lawsuit over Pennsylvania Turnpike toll increases that are financing payments to help fund transit agencies.
OOIDA to appeal dismissal of suit challenging legality of PA Turnpike tolls
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association will appeal a ruling issued Thursday in a class-action lawsuit regarding tolls on users of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Campaign urges safety in highway work zones
Three organizations came together Tuesday to push for work zone safety as part of National Work Zone Awareness week.
PennDOT accepting unsolicited public-private partnership proposals until April 30
The PennDOT Office of Public-Private Partnerships (P3) announced today that it is accepting unsolicited proposals for transportation projects from the private sector through April 30.
Revised thruway route gets environmental approval
The revised southern Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway route around, rather than over, two ash basins located west of Route 15, has received federal environmental clearance. The new route was found to have no significant environmental impact on the surrounding residences, farmland, and wetlands, according to a recently released Environmental Impact Study (EIS).
PennDOT wants to know what you think of its winter work
Through May 7, people can grade PennDOT on their winter response in an online survey.
Congestion pricing floated as fix for Pa. transit funding crisis
The news that New York will become the first U.S. city to impose a fee on vehicles entering Manhattan has put congestion pricing at the center of a statewide conversation about how to fill Pennsylvania’s looming $450 million-a-year transit funding hole.
Fixing US bridges will take 80 years if current rate of progress continues: report
A new report from the American Road and Transportation Builders Association said it will take 80 years to fix structurally deficient bridges if repairs continue at their current pace.
Fees on Uber trips and hybrid vehicles: Where the state might look to pay for public transportation
Charging a dollar fee per trip to Uber users, hitting hybrid and electric car owners with a new annual fee, and raising the state’s 3.07 percent personal income tax to 3.17 percent are among the ideas that a group of southeastern Pennsylvania leaders have pulled together to address the state’s transportation funding crisis.
