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Regional planning agency: Infrastructure needs more funding

The Philadelphia region faces a future of potholes, closed bridges, and reduced public transit unless government leaders raise much more money through tolls, fares, fees, or taxes, the region's planning agency said Thursday.

The Philadelphia region faces a future of potholes, closed bridges, and reduced public transit unless government leaders raise much more money through tolls, fares, fees, or taxes, the region's planning agency said Thursday.

The costs of maintaining and improving area roads, bridges, and transit far outstrip the money now available, said a report issued by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

The nine-county region spends about $1.4 billion a year on highway, bridge, and transit projects, while the annual need is about $2.5 billion, DVRPC planners said.

And with I-95 requiring a $22 billion makeover and SEPTA needing $5 billion to get its system in good repair, transportation infrastructure costs here are expected to rise sharply.

At the same time, taxpayers are increasingly unwilling - or unable - to pay more in the usual taxes and fees to fix bridges, highways, and transit.

"It's a realistic assessment," said Barry Seymour, executive director of the DVRPC, which funnels federal money to area transportation projects and sets priorities for which projects get done.

"Choices need to be made. Frankly, there will never be enough money to do everything everybody would like to see done. It's time to take a realistic look at where we're headed."

The report was presented Thursday to the DVRPC board, made up of representatives of each of the nine counties, as well as local, state, and federal transportation agencies.

The report looks at three possible scenarios for transportation funding during the next quarter-century, as the DVRPC prepares its long-range plan through 2040.

The spending does not include operating or regular maintenance costs; rather, it's for such big-ticket expenses as replacing and repairing bridges, repaving and widening roads, and replacing transit vehicles and power substations.

The funding scenarios are labeled low, medium, and high, but they might as well be: "could happen," "dream on," and "hell freezes over."

The low scenario anticipates capital spending of $48.7 billion between 2014 and 2040 for highways, bridges, and transit. That's a 20 percent cut from current federal spending levels and would leave the nine-county Philadelphia region with closures of 100 state-maintained bridges, more highway congestion, and reduced transit service.

Aiming higher

The medium scenario envisions spending $59.6 billion, assuming federal spending growth of about 3 percent a year, resulting in roads and bridges continuing to deteriorate and transit in the same shape as now.

The high scenario forecasts spending $81 billion, which would mean a 35 percent increase in federal spending, allowing public transit to be put into a state of good repair and new routes built, while highway and bridge conditions would remain about the same.

"Without some change in how we pay for transportation projects, the low scenario detailed in this analysis is as likely to happen as the medium," the report concluded.

Currently, federal and state gas taxes are the primary source of funding for transportation projects.

The federal gas tax, now 18.4 cents a gallon, was last increased in 1993. The New Jersey gas tax, now 14.5 cents a gallon, was last raised in 1988, and the Pennsylvania gas tax, now 32.3 cents a gallon, was last raised in 1997.

If additional money is to be raised, it will likely come from higher gas taxes, tolls on more highways and bridges, higher transit fares, parking fees, higher vehicle registration or license fees, fees on vehicle miles traveled, or non-transportation charges such as sales taxes or property taxes.

But there's not much public appetite for that.

Yes, but no

Recent polls show that 66 percent of Americans say fully funding transportation infrastructure is "extremely or very important," but 71 percent are opposed to increased gas taxes, 64 percent oppose toll increases, and 58 percent object to replacing the gas tax with a mileage tax, noted Michael Boyer, manager of the DVRPC's office of long-range planning and economic coordination.

(In recent years, the economy and improved automotive fuel efficiency have decreased the amount of fuel consumed, and thus the amount of taxes collected.)

The report said local governments may have to contribute more for transportation, because the region relies much more heavily on federal and state money than most areas of the country.

But unlike many other regions, local governments in the Philadelphia area are not permitted to seek voter approval for local sales taxes or many other kinds of taxes without state legislative approval.

As part of its transportation-funding analysis, the DVRPC also created an interactive Web application to allow area residents to assign their own priorities for the region's transportation infrastructure and future development. It's at www.dvrpc.org/choicesandvoices.