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Faced with a growing funding gap and falling gas tax revenues that won’t close it, PennDOT officials are looking for options for new sources of funding.
While everything is on the table, tolls or “user fees” get the most attention.
PennDOT’s Pathways Initiative includes a Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) study that examines alternative short- and long-term funding sources.
Part of the initiative, the Major Bridge P3 program, was approved by the Private Public Transport Partnership in November. It will allow PennDOT to outsource the construction and maintenance of bridges to a private company and charge tolls to pay for repairs or replacements.
“Major bridges” rely on structures of significant physical size, location and cost to rehabilitate or replace them, said Brian Hare, office director of PennDOT’s Center for Program Development and Management.
The initiatives and program are in the very early stages and the toll is just one of many ideas.
“It’s not the only thing,” and other potential solutions are under consideration, PennDOT spokesperson Alexis Campbell said.
The department does not need legislative approval to move forward with bridge tolls; Right now, there isn’t an exact list of what bridges should be considered, Campbell said.
Other ideas include the often increased mileage-based user rate, a rate per mile based on distance traveled.
“It’s potentially fairer among all types of vehicle owners,” Campbell said, including those with electric vehicles.
PennDOT is collecting government grants on ideas until December 17. Comments can be made here.
“The issue of transportation needs and transportation financing is nothing new,” Hare told members of the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study Committee on Wednesday. “To keep pace with traffic wear, PennDOT is moving forward in exploring sustainable transportation options.”
LVTS is the Metropolitan Planning Organization for Lehigh and Northampton Counties.
Reduction in Pennsylvania’s gas tax and federal revenue was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and statewide shutdown, officials said. In the early days of the pandemic, the loss of traffic amounted to nearly $ 400 million in tax revenue.
“That money is gone forever, we will never get it back,” Campbell said. “It has been clear for a long time that we have to find another way.”
Currently, 74% of the financing for motorways and bridges is generated by the gas tax. PennDOT faces a gap of up to $ 8.1 million in annual funding for transportation on highways and bridges.
“This is to keep our network in good shape,” Hare said.
Lehigh Valley Transportation Study members are more aware of most transportation financing issues as they create the TIP and long-haul transportation plans for the region, delegating funding for public transit and road projects , bridges and other transportation.
“The gas tax is a major source of state money for all of our construction, design and maintenance,” Kufro said. “There is a deficit this year. There are fewer people driving … We have a big void here for the next fiscal year. It’s something that shows how vulnerable we truly are when we rely on the gas tax as our main source of revenue. “
During Wednesday’s meeting, an audience member also raised the $ 4.25 billion hijacked by PennDOT and used to fund the Pennsylvania State Police, which Auditor General Eugene DePasquale revealed last year.
In addition to long-term funding issues, LVTS members discussed more immediate funding issues.
Rick Molchany, director of general services for Lehigh County, said he was surprised to read in the newspaper last week about the sudden threat that current PennDOT construction projects shut down on December 1, including 16 in the Lehigh Valley.
An agreement was reached on Monday between Governor Tom Wolf and state lawmakers to fund the projects in the new year.
“We are failing on our infrastructure. We are not winning. We are holding on and barely surviving, “Molchany said.
The news left a bad taste in Molchany’s mouth after LVTS saw projects “kicked” from the 12-year long-range plan and the current TIP, including the Route 22 expansion. The LVTS “didn’t have a active location, we were almost relegated to the children’s table at Thanksgiving, ”in that process, he said.
“I don’t want our (Metropolitan Planning Organization) to ever be in that position again,” Molochany said, adding that members should be part of the conversation, not be read in the papers.
Christopher Kufro, acting director of District 5 PennDOT, agreed to cut TIP and the 12-year plan meant that “we had a lot less planned. Needs don’t go away. They seem to be growing. “
“We will need revenue streams. We have to come up with something,” Kufro said.
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Sarah Cassi can be reached at [email protected].
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