HARRISBURG -- A special panel has recommended the largest package of tax increases in Pennsylvania transportation history to improve roads and bridges and support troubled transit systems.

The final report from Gov. Ed Rendell's nine-member Transportation Funding and Reform Commission, released yesterday, concludes that another $900 million is needed for roads and bridges and another $760 million should be earmarked for transit systems each year.

Already, the state provides close to $3 billion a year for maintenance and construction of roads and bridges and nearly $1 billion for transit.

The money to pay for better roads and to repair bridges rated among the nation's worst would come from an increase of up to 12.5 cents a gallon in fuel taxes and a $15 hike in annual motor vehicle registration or driver license fees.

The money would provide a long-sought dedicated source of funding for public transit and would come from a new Transit Trust Fund, combining a mix of existing streams of revenue with a new 0.9 percent state realty-transfer tax.

Locally, the Port Authority would be required to raise fares, and the county could increase the realty transfer tax by 0.5 percent, the earned income tax by 0.2 percent or the sales tax by 0.25 percent to provide $1 of local money for every $3 the state would provide.

All, some or none of the commission's recommendation could materialize. The decisions will rest with Mr. Rendell and the General Assembly, where more than 25 percent of the House members will be new when the Legislature convenes in January.

"It'll be a challenge," state Sen. Barry Stout, D-Bentleyville, said of the proposed revenue-generating measures and the enabling legislation that must be passed to enact them. "Some people say a penny increase in the gas tax is too much."

Mr. Stout, a member of the special panel and minority chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, championed the last three gas-tax increases, including the record one of 1997 that brought $400 million a year in extra revenue to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

PennDOT Secretary Allen Biehler, who chaired the commission, said passage of the recommendations will be difficult, "No doubt about it."

But he said the doing nothing about the state's underfunded transportation infrastructure carries consequences, such as more weight-restricted bridges and loss of transit services now provided to some extent in all 67 counties and responsible for 414 million rides last year.

"We were charged with looking at the situation constructively, honestly and fairly, and we've done that," Mr. Biehler said. "We've put all the cards on the table."

He said the highway-bridge component of recommendations would cost the average driver an extra $7 a month.

The realty-transfer tax that would go to the state for the Transit Trust Fund would add about $5 a month to a 30-year, $150,000 mortgage.

In addition, there's the local transit component consisting of higher fares along with a realty-transfer, personal-income or sales-tax increase.

While the state usually gets the blame for underfunded transit systems, Mr. Biehler said the local share for funding transit in Pennsylvania amounts to 15 percent compared to about 30 percent nationally, part of the impetus for imposing more of the obligation regionally or on counties.

The final report puts the total annual extra needs for roads, bridges and transit at $1.66 billion a year after savings from reforms, efficiencies and other measures.

The figure falls above the minimum $866 million in needs disclosed by the commission in August to preserve the status quo but below the $2.2 billion it said is needed to significantly improve the transportation system.

At 31.2 cents a gallon, the state's liquid fuels tax is already among the nation's highest in a state responsible for more miles of highway (41,000) and more bridges (25,000) than most others.

But a 12.5-cents-a-gallon gas-tax increase, which would include a penny-a-gallon to be returned to the county and municipalities to improve local streets, would easily skyrocket the state to No. 1.

"If the governor and (legislative) leadership agree this is important, it's doable," said Bob Latham, head of the Associated Pennsylvania Constructors, which represents the road-building industry. "This report makes it clear that the needs are real."

Mr. Latham pointed out that voters in other states approved $400 billion in highway and transit funding referendums and initiatives in last week's election, "So it seems people are ready to accept greater investments in transportation funding."

The day after his re-election, Gov. Rendell told reporters that transportation is a top priority in his second term.

But it's far too soon to predict what, if any, tax increases he may favor, State Budget Secretary Michael Masch said.

"(Transportation) is a serious problem and it will figure into our budget planning," Mr. Masch said. "There is a choice facing the state," either allowing transportation to continue to deteriorate or provide the resources to correct the problem.

Chuck Ardo, an aide to Mr. Rendell, said the governor was still reading the commission's 125-page report, completed and released two days before tomorrow's deadline.

"This is a comprehensive and thorough review of the problem," he said. "The governor will take the time required to consider what this commission recommends."

Here's what the Transportation Funding and Reform Commission said a $900 million-a-year extra investment in roads and bridges would do:

Eliminate poor ride quality in five years on all roads carrying more than 2,000 vehicles a day and on 50 percent of roads with traffic volumes below 2,000 vehicles a day.

Halve the percentage of structurally deficient bridges (now more than 25 percent) to the national average in 17 years.

Implement additional safety features to reduce road fatalities by a total of 25 per year.

Modernize two-thirds of all traffic signals over 10 years.

Install real-time traffic information and management systems in major urban areas, such as TV surveillance cameras.

Add certain projects to increase highway capacity, although PennDOT will continue to emphasize its "maintenance first" policy on existing roads.

Five of the transportation commission's nine members are from Western Pennsylvania. In addition to Mr. Biehler, of Crafton Heights, and Mr. Stout, they include Jim Roddey, a former Port Authority board chairman and former Allegheny County chief executive; Alex Sciulli, former Pittsburgh director of engineering and construction; state Rep. Rick Geist, R-Altoona, majority chairman of the House Transportation Committee.