Transportation in Pennsylvania is a bipartisan issue

With a bipartisan vote earlier this week, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives took another step toward making a historic investment in our commonwealth’s future by advancing legislation to fund Pennsylvania’s roads, bridges, and transit systems. Now, it’s up to lawmakers to get the job done and send a bill to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk.

Infrastructure investments have always been a bipartisan issue in Harrisburg. Elected leaders on both sides of the aisle have long recognized that a first-class transportation system is critical to our economic competitiveness.

Pennsylvania’s infrastructure is the envy of the world. States in the Midwest and along the West Coast are spending billions of dollars to build out the network of roads, bridges, and rail lines that Pennsylvania has long enjoyed as a byproduct of our centuries-old status as an industrial powerhouse.

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Yet despite these “good bones,” Harrisburg must once again step up to deliver a fresh infusion of investments to prepare our commonwealth’s transportation system to meet the changing needs of a 21st century economy. Currently, more than 12,000 Pennsylvania bridges need repair even as our transit agencies work on retooling service to account for changing commuting patterns.

As two former governors, of two different parties, we worked to advance infrastructure packages during our administrations because we recognize that transportation is the lifeblood that powers our economy.

We can see the benefits of these prior investments from the work of successive legislatures and gubernatorial administrations.

In Southwestern Pennsylvania, the partially completed Mon-Fayette Expressway is connecting Morgantown more directly to Pittsburgh.

In Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania, the Central Susquehanna Valley Thruway, which is under construction, will support economic development in a region stretching from Harrisburg north to Williamsport.

And in Southeastern Pennsylvania, previous rounds of infrastructure investments allowed SEPTA to restore the aging Crum Creek Viaduct, helping to avoid the disastrous elimination of Regional Rail service along much of the Media/Elwyn line.

But the fact remains that the last major state investment in our infrastructure, Act 89, was signed into law by Gov. Tom Corbett 12 years ago.

Shapiro, recognizing that our commonwealth’s needs have changed since then, has worked hard to renew our infrastructure. Under his administration, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation last year succeeded in repairing more poor-condition bridges than any state in the nation, even as it succeeded in repairing nearly 6,000 miles of roadways.

But the governor, recognizing that current funding levels are insufficient for making the kinds of investments Pennsylvania needs, has now stepped up to the challenge and released his own infrastructure funding plan.

Much has been made of this proposal’s importance to SEPTA, which will be forced to enact crippling fare hikes and service reductions if Harrisburg fails to act.

This doomsday scenario would have economic ripple effects throughout Pennsylvania, as tens of thousands of residents are left without a way to get to their jobs at some of the nation’s leading healthcare institutions, universities, and private businesses — even as an additional 275,000 cars clog our roads each day, according to a recent analysis.

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Because Southeastern Pennsylvania is the economic engine that powers our commonwealth, this scenario would result in dramatically lower tax revenues and reduced economic activity in communities far away from Philadelphia.

Yet we also know that the Southeast isn’t the only region that would benefit from an infusion of state dollars.

Public transit agencies serve every single one of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, and gravel roads serving rural townships in Indiana County need state investment just as much as major highways through Allentown.

Pennsylvania now has an opportunity to be a model to the nation in addressing this pressing problem.

As we stand on the brink of an opportunity to pass another historic infrastructure package, we urge legislators from both parties to make an investment in a prosperous economic future for our children and grandchildren by sending a comprehensive funding bill to Gov. Shapiro quickly. Pennsylvanians can’t wait.

Mark Schweiker and Ed Rendell are former Republican and Democratic governors of Pennsylvania.