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Rendell supports $500 million state investment in Pittsburgh project

Thursday, February 13, 2003

By Karen MacPherson, Post-Gazette National Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Pennsylvania supporters of a magnetic levitation train may create an alliance with backers of a California-Nevada maglev project in an effort to boost the chances of winning federal funding, officials said yesterday.

	Passengers walk past a Chinese maglev train last weekend that links Shanghai's Putong airport and a commercial district. It can reach a top speed of 260 mph, far faster than even Japan's "bullet train." (Li Jiangsong, Xinhua via Associated Press)

Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey, after a meeting in Washington on maglev with Gov. Ed Rendell and members of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation, said the project won't be funded unless there is a "national consensus" that it is needed.

"If we're going to create a national consensus, there's going to have to be a project in another place besides Pittsburgh," Roddey said after the meeting.

At an earlier luncheon meeting with the delegation, Rendell reiterated his support for spending $500 million in state funds needed to match the $950 million in proposed federal funding for the maglev project.

"It will be a heavy burden, but we're hanging in there," said Rendell.

Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Swissvale, said Rendell's commitment is "a big thing. If there is going to be a maglev project, that ought to cinch it for our state."

But Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., calling himself the "skunk at the garden party," said that he stressed to Rendell and his congressional colleagues that this is a "tough year" for winning federal funding for projects like maglev.

"It's not in the president's budget," Santorum said, adding that reaching out to the California-Nevada project officials could help "make sure that the project goes forward."

Maglev was only one of the subjects addressed by Rendell at a pair of meetings yesterday with members of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation. Lawmakers said the meeting with the governor -- the first of a series of proposed monthly get-togethers -- was designed to help the delegation speak with one voice on issues like transportation needs.

Congress must approve the $950 million in federal funding for the maglev project, which would create the first U.S. system of trains that magnetically levitate on a guide-way at speeds of up to 240 mph.

The two maglev finalists, chosen two years ago by federal transportation officials, are a $3 billion, 45-mile Pittsburgh proposal connecting Greensburg, Monroeville, Downtown and Pittsburgh International Airport, and a $4.4 billion, 40-mile route between Baltimore and Washington. A final choice could come this spring.

Roddey noted that Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who heads the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has indicated he supports the California-Nevada project and isn't inclined to push for federal money for maglev unless it is included.

The California-Nevada project had been eliminated two years ago by federal officials when they chose the two finalists. But officials for that project have never given up their effort to jump back into the federal competition, however, and have kept moving along with their project, which would connect Las Vegas with Orange County, Calif.

Meanwhile, the Baltimore-Washington project appears to be in trouble, despite Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich's request this week to double the state money needed to complete an environmental impact study for it.

Ehrlich's request is likely to be doused with cold water in the Maryland Legislature, where lawmakers are concerned about how the governor plans to pay for it, given the state's $1.8 billion deficit. In addition, there has been vocal opposition to the project from people who live along the proposed maglev route.

There has been opposition to the Pittsburgh project as well, but it got a boost recently when Rendell repeated his commitment to spend $500 million in state funds.

On a separate issue, Roddey said he expects the North Shore light rail project to be put back on the "recommended" list for federal funding in the next few months.

"I'm optimistic," Roddey said, adding that Port Authority officials were meeting with Federal Transit Authority officials to discuss funding for the project, which would extend Port Authority's light-rail network to the North Shore and the new convention center.

The FTA recently dropped the status of the $400 million project from "recommended" to "not recommended." Because of that, the Port Authority has been unable to get the money for $18 million of final design work by local consultants.

Karen MacPherson can be reached at kmacpherson@nationalpress.com or 1-202-662-7075.