FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT Ann Collis
House Democratic Communications Office
Phone: 717-787-7895
Fax: 717-783-6839
Email: acollis@pahouse.net

State Rep. Joseph F. Markosek
D-Allegheny and Westmoreland
www.pahouse.com/Markosek

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Markosek introduces plan for transportation transformation

 

HARRISBURG, May 30 – “It’s time to turn transportation in Pennsylvania in a new direction,” said Rep. Joe Markosek, D-Allegheny/Westmoreland, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

 

At a Capitol news conference today, Markosek announced a package of legislative proposals that would provide increased accountability, efficiency and management of the state’s transportation system. 

 

Markosek said a new “partnership of effort” between state and local officials, transit agency management and labor would streamline Pennsylvania’s outdated transportation system and help raise additional income to counter the current transportation funding crisis.

 

One component of Markosek’s plan would create the Pennsylvania Transportation Finance Authority, to be known as PTFA, which would have the power to acquire, operate, manage and maintain the Pennsylvania Turnpike and other toll roads.

 

“This authority would be charged with managing all of our toll roads with consistency, rather than a piecemeal network of agencies governing each toll road differently,” Markosek said.

 

Markosek’s plan also calls for a redrawing of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s districts, lowering the number from 11 to three. Currently, the 11 PennDOT districts operate largely independently of one another, sometimes leading to conflicting policies on a district-by-district basis, he said.

 

“By creating only three PennDOT districts -- western, central and eastern -- we can both improve coordination between districts and lower operating costs,” Markosek said. “Right now, each district operates differently and has different procedures for things like planning and purchasing. This would simplify the process by which PennDOT’s vendors, many of which are Pennsylvania businesses, apply for contracts.”

 

 Markosek's other proposals include:

 

  • Requiring use of the Pennsylvania “CareerLink” system and the Pennsylvania Civil Service Commission. This proposal would require all new candidates for employment with PennDOT or the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to use either the "CareerLink” System, an entity operated by the Department of Labor and Industry, or the Civil Service Commission process, depending upon the job classification.

 

  • Expanding state oversight. This proposal would create three new auditor positions, each to be placed directly with the following: Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, Port Authority of Allegheny County and PennDOT’s Bureau of Public Transportation. Currently, individual transit agencies, rather than the state, are responsible for the management of their own performance reviews. Markosek has spoken with Pennsylvania Auditor Gen. Jack Wagner and he has agreed to work with him on the best plan for transportation oversight.
  • Exploring opportunities for transit agencies to join the state employee health benefits program as well as include transit employees in the state pension plan. A resolution will be drafted that would direct the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to study the opportunities for transit agencies to join the state employee health benefits program and/or the state pension plan.
  • Supporting the creation of a new transit funding formula. Legislation will be drafted that would rewrite the existing transportation funding formula and create a new program where revenue would track with inflation, would provide a greater share of local funding, and would strengthen transit agency oversight and accountability.

“These comprehensive changes will streamline our transportation agencies and eliminate many of the current problems affecting them,” Markosek said. “We can not ask our colleagues in the legislature, and ultimately the taxpayers of Pennsylvania, to support any additional transportation funding without assurance that those tax dollars are invested and spent properly and responsibly.”

 

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