Three major state transportation issues remained stalled at the end of 2009, leaving legislators hoping for a jump-start this year.
There still is no decision on whether the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission could charge tolls on Interstate 80 and keep pumping money into PennDOT; no movement in the General Assembly making it illegal to text-message while driving; and no word from federal officials on whether a proposed high-speed rail line from Pittsburgh to Cleveland could be eligible for government grants.
The Federal Highway Administration still was reviewing the state's application to charge tolls on I-80 as 2009 drew to a close. The agency, though, might make a decision early this year, said state Rep. Joseph Markosek, chairman of the House Transportation Committee.
"We expect soon after the first of the year to have a decision, one way or another," said Markosek, D-Monroeville.
Under the Act 44 transportation-funding bill passed in 2007, the turnpike borrows money against its toll revenues to pay for PennDOT's road, bridge and transit projects. Without the extra revenue from I-80 tolls, the turnpike's annual payments to PennDOT would drop from $900 million in 2009 to $450 million this year.
The debate pits the populous urban areas that would benefit from additional transportation funding against the towns, businesses and truckers using I-80 that would bear the brunt of tolls. Opponents of the tolls question whether the consultant who conducted an economic study of the toll plan was qualified — and whether the Turnpike Commission deserves the extra money or responsibility after separate investigations into accusations of patronage and shoddy work by contractors.
"The trucking industry is already working below the profitability margin," said Mike Joyce, director of legislative affairs for the advocacy group Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. "This will only increase their costs, which, if they can, will get passed on to the consumer — it's Economics 101."
In other legislation, two bills that would stiffen penalties for "distracted" driving are stuck in the Legislature because other measures — such as authorization of table games at state casinos — took precedence, Markosek said.
The one bill would ban teens from texting while driving; the measure was passed in the House and awaits action in the Senate.
The other bill — a broader ban that would allow police to pull over any driver just for texting behind the wheel — is stuck in the House Appropriations Committee, he said.
The delay on the text-messaging bill has led some cities — Harrisburg, Erie and Philadelphia — to pass their own bans. Their action puts pressure on the Legislature to step in to prevent Pennsylvania from becoming a patchwork of laws, Markosek said.
"We can't have 2,500 municipalities in Pennsylvania with different laws," he said.
The American Automobile Association says 18 states and the District of Columbia have passed bans on texting while driving, including bordering states Maryland, New Jersey and New York.
Seven different bills were introduced in 2009 that would affect drivers who text-message. Lawmakers, though, had difficulty last year agreeing on the breadth of the ban and how stiff the penalties should be.
In another matter, staff from the Federal Railroad Administration this past fall studied making the 140 miles from Pittsburgh to Cleveland a designated high-speed rail corridor.
At the request of Gov. Ed Rendell and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, the railroad-agency staff met with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in late December, said FRA spokesman Warren Flatau. A decision from LaHood could occur in the first weeks of this year.
Getting LaHood's approval would make the corridor eligible for federal grants to build a national rail system of fast passenger trains — and would make Pittsburgh a connection between networks planned for the Midwest and East Coast, instead of just the western end of the Keystone Corridor from Philadelphia and Harrisburg.
Stu Nicholson, spokesman for the Ohio Rail Development Commission, said Pittsburgh and Cleveland once again could become gateways between the East and West, instead of dead-ends on their networks. Only one train a day goes in each direction from Cleveland to Pittsburgh in the early-morning hours, but Ohio's high-speed rail plans call for as many as eight trains a day between the two cities.
"That's the thing that would help turn this around, is getting those corridors and getting trains to run in those corridors when people are actually awake," Nicholson said.
Though a decision on which states get part of $8 billion in stimulus money for high-speed rail is not officially due until February, LaHood has indicated that an announcement could occur this month.
