GREENLEAF
REINTRODUCES MASS TRANSIT SUPPORT BILL
HARRISBURG – Sen. Stewart J.
Greenleaf has reintroduced a proposal to keep SEPTA
and other financially-strapped transit systems running
by increasing the share of the state sales tax
dedicated to mass transit funding.
"SEPTA's continued operation is
an economic necessity for southeastern Pennsylvania.
Its trains and buses take people to work, to school,
and to medical appointments. SEPTA's viability is
crucial to reducing traffic congestion and pollution
in the region," Greenleaf said. "My legislation,
Senate Bill 301, would address the deficits faced by
SEPTA and other transit systems across the state by
lifting the cap placed on transit's current share of
the sales tax and by increasing the share of the sales
tax dedicated to transit funding."
The state's mass transportation
systems are supposed to receive 2.1 percent of the
sales tax, but 1.22 percent of that is capped at $75
million. Greenleaf's proposal would remove the cap,
thus generating more than $20 million, and would
dedicate an additional 3.3 percent of the sales tax to
transit support, producing an extra $306 million. In
accordance with an agreement of the Pennsylvania
Public Transportation Association (PPTA), the measure
would establish a new distribution formula to meet the
resource needs of the 74 transit systems in the
commonwealth, provide $10 million annually to fund
welfare-to-work transportation projects through the
State Department of Transportation; and maintain the
Harrisburg-Philadelphia Amtrak corridor through an
additional dedication of 0.378 percent of the sales
tax.
Greenleaf, a member of the SEPTA
board, noted that the main goal of the legislation,
developed through lengthy discussions with PPTA
members, is to assure a dedicated source of funding
for transit systems that are faced with deficits that
may require steep fare increases and service cutbacks
to remain operational. Currently, SEPTA has a $49
million deficit for fiscal year 2005. Service cuts
and fare hikes are possible if the deficit is not
otherwise addressed.
"SEPTA is important to businesses
and to their employees who ride transit to work every
day. It is important to those who drive as well as to
those who ride because SEPTA reduces traffic
congestion. Each bus taken out of service results in
40 more cars on the roads every day and each train
taken out of service results in 120 more cars,"
Greenleaf said. "And, since every capital dollar
invested in SEPTA has a multiplier effect of six
dollars in the economy, it makes economic sense to
keep transit operational with an additional share of
the sales tax," Greenleaf said.
Greenleaf's is one of several
funding proposals that have been offered this session
to support the state's transit systems.
