As you may have read yesterday in the
Morning Call or
Lehigh Valley Business,
The Chamber just held its annual Transportation Luncheon, featuring
Representative Rick Geist (R-79) and
Barry Schoch, Secretary of Transportation under Governor Corbett. The event featured calls from the entire business community for Pennsylvania to make the desperately needed, major upgrades to our transportation system.
Michelle Griffin Young, The Chamber's Executive VP of Government & External Affairs, recently had an op-ed appear in the
Lehigh Valley Business, and its reprinted below. The impact of transportation on our area cannot be understated - it can create tens of thousands of jobs, invest millions into the economy and result in a better business climate and quality of life for the entire Commonwealth. Check out
Michelle's op-ed or read our
Transportation Policy.
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How safe do you feel driving to work every day? Did you know that 5,000 Pennsylvania bridges are rated “structurally deficient?”
Transportation is the platform of the U.S. economy. In the long term, transportation improvements lead to economic development locally and regionally and ultimately facilitate the economic growth of the entire country. In the near term, each dollar invested in highway construction generates $1.80 of GDP, according to Source: Standard & Poor’s DRI.
Each $1 billion in federal highway investment plus the state match supports 34,000 jobs, and every dollar that taxpayers invest in public transportation generates about $6 in economic returns, according to Cambridge Systematics.
The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce recognizes that a modern, safe and efficient transportation infrastructure is necessary for the economic vitality of regional businesses and the mobility of our citizens. Managing roadways and providing funding for future improvements is essential to the safety of our citizens and a vital part of the efficient distribution of products and services On Wednesday, May 16, the Chamber will host an interactive luncheon forum with the state’s key decision makers. The focus of the program is to educate and engage our business community about the dire need for a solution to Pennsylvania’s infrastructure funding crisis. Join the Commonwealth’s key decision makers: Secretary of Transportation Barry Schoch, Pennsylvania House Transportation Chairman Representative Rick Geist and a member of the Senate transportation committee for an interactive discussion between the Corbett Administration and both branches of the legislature. Chamber President and CEO, Tony Iannelli, will moderate.
The Chamber recommends implementing the following transportation improvements, which are vital to continued growth and sustainability of our regional infrastructure:
Bridges: Provide sufficient transportation funds to continue PaDOT’s recent initiative to repair and replace structurally deficient bridges at the 2010 or higher level as the Accelerated Bridge Program.
Roads: Provide full project funding for the completion of the Route 22 Tomorrow, American Parkway and Route 412 projects, as well as the other projects on the Lehigh Valley Surface Transportation Plan 2011 - 2030.
Public Transportation: Provide funding for public transportation to the level originally envisioned with the passage of Act 44 and to support the “Moving LANTA Forward” program to encourage increased usage of public transportation.
Air: Provide funding to assist the state’s mid-sized airports in attracting and retaining quality airline service through an air service development fund.
Freight Rail: Provide funding and continued investment in rail freight infrastructure to maintain the current infrastructure and increase capacity to promote the intermodal distribution of goods.
The Chamber understands that today is the time to act and make changes to our funding policies so that we can realize the vision of a balanced, efficient transportation system to serve the health and welfare of our citizens and to promote economic development.
As Pennsylvania’s roads and bridges, buses and rail infrastructure reach the end of their useful life, maintenance costs will rise and major capital expenditures become necessary. Failure to address these needs will lead to greater deterioration of our transportation infrastructure and result in even greater costs in the future. We believe the solution to this funding crisis will include regional and statewide planning to set our priorities, as well as sacrifices in the way of increased user costs. We support developing a long term funding strategy and the consideration of a variety of possibilities for funding transportation needs, including, but not limited to, the following:
Promote efficiency improvements in transportation projects Propose the setting of an appropriate prevailing wage Wider use of tolling on new and existing public highways The creation of dedicated funding for state police Public-Private Partnerships (P3) Gradually adjust the cap on the Oil Company Franchise Tax (OCFT) Implement inflation based increases in fuel tax and user fees Please join our members in advocating for real infrastructure reform. You can begin by being a part of the dialogue on Wednesday. Contact Melody Gardner at melodyg@lehighvalleyChamber.org for details.
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