Will It Take a Lawmaker Pay Raise to Save Our Transit?

If anything good is going to happen for public transit in Pennsylvania it won’t be until 5 minutes before midnight on November 30, the last day of the PA legislative session.

At the break of dawn on Tuesday, October 5, 2004, a busload of determined public transit riders from Allegheny and Washington County left for the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg to demand quick action on legislation (SB1162 & HB2697), which increases dedicated funding for public transit in the state.  Upon arrival at the State Capitol, their first stop was at a rally for public transit taking place under the Capitol’s main rotunda. Here, regular bus riders from Pittsburgh, Clairton and Canonsburg mixed with fellow riders from the Philadelphia area and with professional transportation planners and advocates.

Following this rally came the task of navigating the Capitol’s labyrinth of halls and getting the bums rush from almost all of the legislative offices they stopped at. The group missed visiting with Gov. Rendell, who was out to lunch. They wrote him a note and they all signed it. Two places where some of the group did get a hearing were at Senate Transportation Committee member Barry Stout’s office and at House Transportation Committee member Ken Ruffing’s office.  Stout and Ruffing represent parts of Allegheny and Washington Counties and neither has endorsed SB1162 or HB 2697.

At Senator Stout’s office, the group learned that the Senator will only support SB1162 if the state also enacts a motor fuels tax hike.  At Rep. Ruffing’s office, the group learned that the Representative had never heard of HB2697, or so he claimed. Ruffing demonstrated no enthusiasm for the bill.

Since returning from Harrisburg, Save Our Transit members have become disheartened to learn that legislators have made the survival of public mass transit in Pennsylvania contingent on the passage of a much hated gas tax hike. Legislators and highway construction lobbyists, looking for some chumps to pin the tax hike on have claimed that it will “save mass transit.” This is misleading.  The PA State Constitution dedicates all revenue from the state motor fuels tax to highways and bridges.  Nothing from this tax goes to fund public transit. 

Bus riders are worried and angry.  Without passage of SB1162 or HB2697 the Port Authority will have to go ahead with plans to balance its operating budget by eliminating weekend and nighttime service.  This will be a disaster for those who need the bus and the trolley to get around. Their anger rises each time it hits them that the salvation of public transit has now become dependent on the passage of a motor fuels tax that gives not one cent to public transit and has little chance of passing.
 
There might be hope, however, with reports that a gasoline tax could be made sweeter for lawmakers by attaching a legislative pay raise to the bill. So while public transit is held hostage to a motor fuels tax hike, the motor fuels tax hike might end up being contingent on a legislative pay raise. So, will a pay raise for lawmakers save public transit?

Cutting through the political fog, bus and trolley riders demand only that the state fix the fiscal crisis facing public transit operations once and for all. Gas tax or no gas tax, legislative pay hike or not, they want dedicated, reliable and predictable funding for public transit in Pennsylvania.  There must be no more service cuts and no more fare hikes!

To help out in these final days, call Save Our Transit at 412-361-3022.

- Stephen Donahue is a member of the editorial collective, captive bus rider and organizer of Save Our Transit.

 
(Left) Linda Warman of Save Our Transit talks about being transit dependent. In the background are supporters from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas. (Right) Transit supporters visit Gov. Ed Rendell's office before breaking into smaller groups to talk to state reps and senators. Rendell's security guard tells them Rendell won't see them because they don't have an appointment and the governor and all his aides are in meetings. (Photos by Marie Skoczylas)