PA Rethinks Funding Methods for Road, Bridge Repairs

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By: Emily Scott

Gov. Tom Wolf delivers his final budget proposal today, and transportation leaders are hopeful he’ll discuss funds for infrastructure, after last month’s bridge collapse in Pittsburgh.

On average, many Pennsylvania bridges are more than half a century old. Combined with a $9 billion annual state funding gap, Larry Shifflet, deputy secretary for planning at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, said that means repair or preservation needs go unmet.

He said the $5.6 billion federal dollars the state will receive over the next five years to improve bridges and roads is welcome, but it isn’t a long-term solution.

“That average age of both the bridges and the roadways,” said Shifflet, “you just look at the interstate system, when that was built in the ’50s and the ’60s, it’s time for most of that interstate network in Pennsylvania to be reconstructed, which is significantly costly.”

Gov. Wolf established the Transportation Revenue Options Commission last March to address funding challenges. The commission submitted a final report in July, which noted the state’s gas-tax revenue – which makes up about 75% of PennDOT’s highway and bridge funding – has continued to shrink.

Gas-tax revenue has been on the decline, between fuel-economy improvements and the transition to electric vehicles.

Shifflet said the commission’s report includes recommendations for ways to phase out of the gas tax, including a $1.1 fee for taxis and rideshare companies operating in Pennsylvania.

“One of the bigger ones, which would be something that would take many years to get in place,” said Shifflet, “is a Milage-Based User Fee for all vehicles. And then, that would help to eliminate the current fee at the pump – so, the gas tax. And that was the one I’d say is the biggest bang for the buck.”

The commission proposes a fee of just over $.08 per mile on all miles traveled in Pennsylvania.

Ten people were injured in the Pittsburgh bridge collapse, which is still under investigation. The state announced Friday it will spend $25 million in federal funds to construct a new bridge at the site.