Talking Business with Becky Bradley: Fixing our transportation network will be expensive; neglecting it will cost more

Let me start by laying a couple of giant numbers on you: $8.1 billion and $4 billion.

The first, $8.1 billion, is the shortfall Pennsylvania has annually in addressing its transportation needs. As a result, the network maintenance and improvements are falling behind. For example, as of 2019, 2,500 bridges statewide were rated in poor condition.

By BECKY BRADLEY

FOR THE MORNING CALL |

JUN 03, 2021 AT 7:58 AM

The second, $4 billion, is the shortfall the Lehigh Valley has over the next 25 years, according to the analysis in “FutureLV: The Regional Plan,” in funding its transportation needs. That’s just to maintain what we have in good condition, not to make major changes. And that number will continue to grow as more people and businesses move here.

It’s not like I’m sounding some previously secret siren here. This alarm has been blaring for more than two decades. But I am saying that we’ve reached a tipping point and we, as taxpayers, commuters, businesses, residents, governments and consumers, need to start listening to it. Now. Yes, right now!

There’s no quick fix and no magic bullet because this is a very complex problem. Under our current four-year Transportation Improvement Program, the Lehigh Valley expects to spend $452 million on road, bridge and transit projects.

We get most of our money through state and federal channels. It is all based on complex — and in many aspects, outdated — formulas that are weighted heavily on the population, vehicle miles traveled and interstate highway miles, among other things.

Overall, roughly 80% of our money is federal, with most of the remaining 20% coming from state and local sources. With no local dedicated source, it gives us very little control over the amount of our funding. And the federal portion of the money is often unpredictable. It’s difficult to know what priorities a particular administration or Congress will have, and the biggest funding pot — the federal gas tax — has not increased since 1993. Meanwhile, over that same period, the cost of construction has gone up 140%, and nearly everyone is driving more fuel-efficient vehicles. Less money is coming in and costs have gone up. Translation: not sustainable.

Pennsylvania legislators in 2013 agreed to increase the state gas tax by about 28.5 cents over five years, raising an estimated $2.4 billion a year for transportation, but it was never expected to be enough to close the state’s funding gap. More relevant is that with more people working remotely, more efficient cars and ultimately an expected rapid increase in the number of electric cars on the road, the gas tax is no longer reliable on the state or federal level. Pennsylvania’s gas tax revenues were down $500 million in 2020. It’s become such an issue that the state in recent years has had to reduce funding to regions like the Lehigh Valley, reduce the scope and scale of state investments and even delay or cancel projects. Yet, over the past five years, local governments in the Lehigh Valley have approved over 30 million square feet of new industrial development and our population grew by more than 13,000.

On its surface, we’re talking about roads, bridges, pedestrian and cyclist safety projects and transit, but in reality this is about our economy and everyday quality of life. It’s about getting kids to school, people to work and goods from one place to the next. Few things are more important. When we were storming the grocery store, masks secured and elbows out, in pursuit of toilet paper this time last year, we all understood the value of getting supplies to people and the power of a reliable, safe and secure transportation system.

The good news is that it appears that the deafening alarms are being heard and a lot of really qualified, experienced and intelligent people are studying this and considering big changes. The current federal funding legislation, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, expires Sept. 30 and federal leaders are negotiating what will take its place.

Federal officials are proposing a major funding infusion — in the trillions of dollars — that would not only pump more money into roads, bridges and transit, but expand the very definition of infrastructure to include upgrades to water and sewer and digital connectivity. Even the scaled-back versions rolling around in Congress would add much-needed funding into the system.

At the state level, the new options Pennsylvania is considering would bring a sea change that could eventually phase out the gas tax. Almost everything is on the table.

The Pennsylvania Transportation Revenue Options Commission, of which I am a member, is viewing a sprawling menu of options. It includes tolling bridges and roads, raising a variety of sales, income or corporate taxes and a long list of drivers fees that range from new electric car fees to registration fee increases to charging all drivers a mileage-based user fee. I’m not here to advocate for any particular options, but I will say the list is long because the need is great, the problem is compound-complex, and if it were easy to solve, it would be done by now. We’re tasked with making recommendations by Aug. 1.

Approval of any or all of it will not be easy for anyone. It’s going to take courage by our legislators at all levels of government. It will even take your courage. Yep, that’s right, you!

Mobility, the foundation of our economy and day-to-day existence, has a cost. Nothing is free, and if we as community members believe in jobs, schools, medical care and any of those places that we need to get to, we have to make sure that we have the infrastructure to get there. You’ve seen the “No Farms, No Food” bumper sticker, right? Well, I’m making a “No Infrastructure, No Economy” one. Honk if you see me

If we want to do this right, we need more local funding that leads to more local and regional control, and we need built-in recurring increases that keep us from repeatedly crossing this road every time one administration — or several in a row — veer their focus away from our transportation infrastructure.

Yes, we’re going to need to collect and spend this money more efficiently, but we have to understand that it’s going to take more — a lot more — money than we’ve been spending the past 30 years.

And we all have a role in this, too. As taxpayers, commuters, residents, businesses and consumers, we need to understand what’s at stake — that this is central to our economy and daily lives.

Most importantly, we need to be OK with paying to rehabilitate a transportation network that’s been left largely patched, when it needs to be rebuilt and in some cases expanded.

Finally, we need to tell our legislators that we’re OK with paying. That we want to support our economy, community and future, and we will support them when they make tough decisions to invest in our transportation system. Call yours today.