This is the first of a series of alerts we will be issuing in the next few weeks as our elected officials in Harrisburg debate transportation funding and hopefully pass legislation to replace the funds lost when the US DOT rejected the plan to toll Interstate 80.
Future alerts will be sent just to our Pennsylvania members, but we know some of you who live in other states work in Pennsylvania or otherwise have an interest in making sure there is adequate funding for SEPTA and for other transportation needs. If you’d like to be on the mailing list for these messages, please send us an e-mail indicating your interest.
Governor Rendell has called a special legislative session to deal with the issue; it will go on concurrently with other legislative business including the state budget, the deadline for which is June 30. That is also the day on which the portion of transportation funding dependent on the toll plan runs out, and we have to start postponing or canceling important projects.
Presently, the governor is holding a series of events around the state calling attention to deteriorated infrastructure and other transportation needs. Ignoring them will put our safety and our economic strength in jeopardy. Funding them will create jobs while preparing us for recovery. DVARP attended the event at Wayne Junction and talked to the media about why we need to fund those transportation needs now and not wait until some unspecified tomorrow.
We’re also coordinating actions with other constituencies so we can send a clear and consistent message throughout the state. We need you to help get that message out, so please make some time in your schedule to check our action alerts every week and write letters or make calls. The voices of citizens like you can be very influential, and we need them to be heard.
Some more notes for you:
We still need action from all members to call their city council member or county commissioners about the SEPTA fare increase. We discovered that the fare hike raises at least a million dollars more than SEPTA needs to balance the budget without cutting service, so we are insisting that the size of the fare increase be reduced. Call your local elected officials, and ask that their representatives on the SEPTA Board vote for our alternative plan which keeps SEPTA fiscally secure without hurting the passengers so much.