Septa's Doomsday Budget 2013-2023

Right. It was the Senate that was on board with this in the first place though. The House is what was holding this down.

We still need to keep the pressure on our state Senators so they don't act like boneheads about the prevailing wage increase, which I just read affected only 17 state jobs last year.

http://youtu.be/nB1CrtXBcYU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

this guy pretty much summed it all up. FANTASTIC

BPP1999, I believe the jobs are not individual employees' jobs, but projects which probably employed more than one person each.
[quote]
Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch said that given that most transportation projects cost far more than $100,000, the provision would have applied only to 17 state projects in the last year and would likely largely affect only municipal projects in rural areas.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20131 ... JRs3bqS.99" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
[quote]
I do consider opposition to raising the threshold because it erodes wages fails to consider the tremendous erosion no jobs would mean. Aren't they essentially saying "If you don't pay prevailing wage for projects > $n then don't do the project"?

I want to read more about the wage concepts. I do find it alarming how expensive projects have become.

The full bill passed the House tonight and is on Corbett's desk waiting to be signed into law.

Peachy. We get to keep a rail line that moves a few hundred people a day, a trolley line with cars that can't get out of their own way, and a few bridges. Let's party!

You know, if SEPTA gave the Cynwyd line to Amtrak, they could probably double the line's daily ridership.

Is this bill signed yet ?. I just seen a disturbing article on philly.com this guy in the tea party wants to revisit and stop the gas tax increase. Saying he lives in rural PA and lives on a dirt road and don't understand why he has to pay for mass transit. It made me upset. NY pays .60 cents on their gas tax I read and ours is only gonna be .25 cents. I dont understand the guy , the republicans and democrats came to a agreement by a BIG GAP LIKE WTF

bikentransit wrote:Peachy. We get to keep a rail line that moves a few hundred people a day, a trolley line with cars that can't get out of their own way, and a few bridges. Let's party!

Fair enough Cynwyd only moves a few hundred people, but how would you have felt if Media/Elwyn went the way of the Dodo? Doylestown Branch? Or the main line being truncated to Malvern? Oh, and ask Minnesota how the bridge thing worked out. I, for one, am glad this bill is going forward and the Philly area is getting money for much needed upkeep. I've never said this before, but bravo to Corbett for actually helping to get something productive for Pennsylvania done.

loufah wrote:You know, if SEPTA gave the Cynwyd line to Amtrak, they could probably double the line's daily ridership.

How so?

bikentransit wrote:Peachy. We get to keep a rail line that moves a few hundred people a day, a trolley line with cars that can't get out of their own way, and a few bridges. Let's party!

"a few bridges?" PA has the highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges in the country and some of the worst-maintained roads. For just one example, there's a bridge in Montco that's so badly deteriorated the inspectors ordered it to be closed immediately - no weight restrictions, no temporary fix, but close it.

And remember that SEPTA isn't the only transit operator in the state that's hurting for funds. PA's support has been roughly one-third of what comparable systems in other states get. This bill helps PAT, LANTA, BARTA, and every other transit system, not just Philly.

As for the TP types who don't want to pay for anything, I doubt anyone's overjoyed to be shelling out more regardless of party but the fact is we've been getting a bargain for a long time. In percentage terms the current flat tax has gone down by nearly 3/4 since the last increase while construction and maintenance costs have gone way up. The shortfall gets covered out of "general funds" - a nice euphemism for you, me, and everybody else no matter how we travel.

The TP'ers can make plenty of arguments, but saying a 28¢ tax on a $3.25 gallon of gas is onerous but 12¢ was just fine when gas was less than a buck sure isn't one of 'em. I guess the rural types are happy to let their roads and bridges crumble. Horses and wagons worked fine 150 years ago, right?

sammy2009 wrote:NY pays .60 cents on their gas tax I read and ours is only gonna be .25 cents.

PA taxes are 32.3 cents/gallon, NY is 49.9 cents/gallon. (These amounts exclude Federal and any local taxes ) The transportation bill provides for an increase of up to 28.5 cents/gallon over a 5-year period

If your argument is "PA's tax should be as much as nearby states", note that NJ's gasoline tax is 14.5 cents/gallon.

JeffK wrote:The TP'ers can make plenty of arguments, but saying a 28¢ tax on a $3.25 gallon of gas is onerous but 12¢ was just fine when gas was less than a buck sure isn't one of 'em. I guess the rural types are happy to let their roads and bridges crumble. Horses and wagons worked fine 150 years ago, right?

What would happen if we based some of the highway tax money on miles driven by each vehicle, verify it at state inspection time and roll it into the registration fee?

Clearfield wrote:What would happen if we based some of the highway tax money on miles driven by each vehicle, verify it at state inspection time and roll it into the registration fee?

Some states are looking into this. Problem is, it overtaxes the PA driver who vacations in Florida a couple times a year, and doesn't tax the non-PA truckers who wear down I-80. Yet another alternative is to install a GPS tracker in each vehicle, but there's a fair amount of resistance to that.