Corbett to Pittsburgh Area Transit Riders: Drop Dead
Last edited Wed Feb 29, 2012, 10:01 PM - Edit history (1)
The Pittsburgh area used to have a great public transit system. However, after the latest set of cuts, the service will have shrunk by one-half in only a couple years. These cuts are on top of major fare increases. Buses and light rail vehicles are jam-packed already.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12060/1213323-147.stm
The same situation will exist for SEPTA in southeast PA once they use up their funding reserves.
Corbett appointed an excellent group of people to come up with funding solutions for transit, bridges and other needs. Then he completely ignored all of their practical recommendations.
Corbett said that Pittsburgh's slashing of transit service is a Local Issue.
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http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-pa-transportation-funding-20120229,0,3256258.story
Excerpt:
"When?
That was the main question that budget-writers on the House Appropriations Committee had for state Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch. When will Gov. Tom Corbett finally sit down with lawmakers to talk about the menu of tax and fee increases needed to pay for $2.7 billion worth of road and bridge repairs and support for mass-transit systems?
...Added House Transportation Committee Chairman Rick Geist, R-Blair: "It just seems to me that it keeps getting delayed and delayed fixing what needs to be fixed … I think the time has come,"
Schoch seemed to share legislators' frustrations. Corbett's been reviewing the findings of the funding study committee since last August. In his Feb. 7 budget address, Corbett said he wanted to meet with lawmakers to discuss options, but offered no timeline for when that would happen.
Right now, the state is relying on a $200 million bond issue keep up with bridge repairs. Pennsylvania owns about 25,000 bridges with an average age of about 50 years old. The bond issue has allowed PennDOT to repair about 400 bridges a year and the state is almost out of bond money. Schoch said the focus on bridges had put the state behind on its road maintenance efforts as well."
= new reply since forum marked as read
The largest service reduction in Port Authority history would displace senior citizens, the disabled, working people and businesses, and reverse the region's recent economic growth, speakers at a public hearing said today.
"This is a recipe for disaster," said Charles Lotz, project coordinator for the United Way of Allegheny County, discussing the impact on ACCESS service for persons with disabilities.
The Port Authority is holding a legally mandated hearing on its proposal to raise fares on July 1 and cut service by 35 percent on Sept. 2 to erase a $64 million budget deficit. Forty-six of the current 102 bus routes would end.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12060/1213368-178-0.stm#ixzz1npRsxXQD
Members of the We Are One coalition, which said it got no response to an invitation it sent to Gov. Tom Corbett to attend today's hearing on transit cuts, posted this likeness outside the hearing.
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What I find most upsetting is that these cuts will disproportionately hurt the most vulnerable citizens in the area, the poor, the disabled.
Must see video of the protest, testimony, and even someone posing as our AWOL governor. I guess he was too busy collecting pay-offs from natural gas drillers. Link to video here:
http://multimedia.post-gazette.com/default.asp?bctid=1481459713001
Hundreds of people in wheelchairs rolled out of the torrential rain and into the hearing at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, some just to show support and others to testify against the 35 percent reduction planned for Sept. 2. The reduction, to close a projected $64 million budget deficit, would eliminate 46 of 102 bus routes and cause deep cuts to ACCESS service for the disabled.
"It is just unimaginable that we are going to set people with disabilities back 35 years to the point where they are trapped in their homes," said Lucy Spruill, director of public policy and community relations for United Cerebral Palsy.
Using a sound board to speak, Christine Ryder of Wilmerding said disabled people would be "devastated" by the reductions. "ACCESS service allows us to be out in the community and be contributing members of society," she said.
Other speakers said the service reductions would cause people to lose jobs, reduce mobility for the elderly, add to traffic and parking congestion, and drive businesses out of the region. Many urged Gov. Tom Corbett, an Allegheny County native, to take a lead role in securing a more reliable, growing funding source for the agency.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12061/1213667-53.stm#ixzz1ns9H6zoe
