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.
