PA: Pennsylvania lawmakers discuss Berks transportation needs

Transportation issues across the state were the main topic at a special meeting held Friday in Reading.

The House Transportation Committee met at Town Hall, the fifth of eight Moving PA Forward meetings, which focus on finding ways the state can invest in roads, bridges and public transportation systems as tax revenues decline. An update on transportation issues in Berks County was also provided.

“During this tour, we will hear directly from urban, suburban and rural communities across the state so that their voices can be heard and the Legislature can make informed decisions,” said committee Majority Leader Ed Neilson.

Neilson, who represents communities in Philadelphia, said the state is long overdue for a new transportation funding policy.

The General Assembly last addressed transportation funding in 2013, passing Assembly Bill 89, which raised an additional $2.3 billion per year for transportation funding. The bill eliminated the retail sales tax on gasoline but increased the wholesale tax.

Fees for vehicle registration and driving licences have also been increased, as have fines for some traffic offences.

But Department of Transportation officials have raised alarm that the gas tax — the traditional source of most repair funds — is declining while electric and hybrid vehicles are gaining popularity. That could spell trouble for the state’s roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure.

The new fee introduced by the Shapiro administration would mean that electric vehicle drivers would pay $200 next year (rising to $250 in 2026). Hybrid car owners who still buy gasoline for fuel would pay 25% of the fee, or $50 in 2025.

The fee is expected to generate about $16 million in 2025, all of which will be deposited into the state Motor License Fund. But more money is needed.

“We have 13 million people in Pennsylvania who rely on our transportation network every day,” said PennDOT Secretary Michael Carroll. “And those people expect us to deliver a safe and efficient transportation network — that’s a monumental task.”

The main topic of Friday’s meeting was public transport.

Carroll said that when the term is used, most people in the state think of Philadelphia or perhaps Pittsburgh. They imagine subways and commuter rail systems that carry people through busy, densely populated urban areas.

But, he explained, every county in the state has a public transportation system, and they all need additional funding. And the Shapiro administration has tried to start providing some of it in this year’s budget.

Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed a $280 million funding increase for public transportation statewide, but the final budget approved in July included only an additional $80 million.

Carroll said the administration has a plan to address the $200 million shortfall that would not require a single cent of additional tax dollars. He said the general fund has the capacity to provide the funding.

Bryan Barbin, deputy secretary of taxation for the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, introduced the governor’s proposal.

It is based on increasing the amount transit agencies receive in state sales taxes. Last fiscal year, that amount was about $1.2 billion, but with a 1.75 percentage point increase in their share, it would increase to about $1.5 billion.

If the plan were implemented under the new budget, the South Central Transit Authority, which oversees the Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority (BARTA), would receive an additional $5.6 million, Barbin said.

The mechanism for the Governor’s proposal is to transfer the increase in sales tax revenues to the Public Transportation Trust Fund, which was created by Act 44 of 2007. Through various revenue streams, the fund distributes grants to public transportation agencies to help cover operating costs, capital asset improvements, and programs of statewide importance.

Barbin said the projected sales tax increase would be enough to cover the 1.75 percentage point increase.

And Carroll said the investment would certainly pay off.

“Pennsylvania’s economy is driven in many ways by the economic activity in Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, Bucks, Lehigh and Berks counties,” Carroll said. “Those counties are really important economic activity, and that activity is dependent on a functioning, efficient, growing transit system.”

Carroll said he will continue to push the Legislature for action to increase funding for public transportation before the end of the session on Nov. 30.

Berks perspective

Greg Downing, executive director of the South Central Transit Authority, said there is an urgent need for additional state investment in public transportation.

The public transit service operates in Berks and Lancaster counties, offering fixed-route buses and shared rides, paratransit services. The authority has 19 bus routes in Reading, transporting nearly 75% of Reading’s residents.

“Last year, we had close to 4 million trips — 2.5 million in Berks alone,” Downing said. “Of those trips, 350,000 were special services, like rideshares and paratransit.”

Downing said one of the challenges the authority faces is an ongoing shortage of workers. He said they have started their own program during COVID-19 to help recruit and train drivers. The program offers free training to people who have a clean driving record and can demonstrate sufficient map-reading skills.

“This program required us to spend money so that we could continue to provide the community with the critical services they need to get to work, meetings and school,” he said.

Downing said BARTA is now operating at full capacity due to the success of the training program. However, he said there is still a challenge with staffing in Lancaster County.

Downing added that in addition to staffing issues, the authorities are also struggling to provide the best and most efficient services.

He said the authority completed a transit expansion study over the past six months to determine how the system is working and what areas need improvement. He said the study showed the system could expand to Birdsboro and Kutztown.

“We need more funding to meet these needs,” he said. “The need to be able to provide these services, to provide access, is enormous.”

Downing said traffic is also a big issue the systems are currently dealing with. Something that could help alleviate that stress by taking more vehicles off the road is the ability to restore passenger rail service between Reading and Philadelphia.

The committee also received an update on this project.

Dave Hunter, executive director of the Berks County Planning Commission, who also serves on the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority, said the effort to restore passenger rail service in the county has been a collective endeavor with unprecedented momentum.

He added that this attempt to restore the service is different from previous ones, mainly due to the cooperation between the three counties through which the service would run.

In July 2022, Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties formed an authority to prepare the ground for a proposed plan to restore passenger rail service. The line would include stops in Reading, Pottstown and Phoenixville.

But, he added, the real work began when the office was accepted into a federal program aimed at creating new rail corridors, providing the necessary financial support necessary to implement the project.

Thomas Frawley, executive director of the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority, provided the commission with an overview of the project’s progress.

The authority received $500,000 from the federal program for the first phase of the project. This first step includes developing a scope and cost service plan that will examine ridership and revenue projections, capital programming and operational analysis.

It also allowed the authority to begin negotiations with Amtrak and Norfolk Southern about using their existing tracks.

Frawley said the first phase will be completed in the coming weeks.

Once the plan is complete, the next step is to move into the preliminary design phase.

This phase will show the authority if the project is feasible. If so, it will move on to the implementation phase, which includes the final design and launch of the service.

Frawley warned that the process would be lengthy and that it would likely take about five years to launch the service.

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