Why should you care about the transportation funding shortfall in Pennsylvania? Just ask yourself...

What would your morning commute into Pittsburgh be like if the buses and the T stopped running and 5,000 more cars joined you on the road?

What would your T ride from the South Hills be like if the Liberty and Fort Pitt bridges were forced to close and all the drivers that use them had to give mass transit a try?

How enjoyable would your next road trip be if Pennsylvania's freight systems failed and all the cargo that now travels on our rivers and rails instead had to be trucked throughout the region?

These are not merely hypothetical questions. Our roads, bridges, transit systems, sidewalks, rivers and other transportation infrastructure make up a delicate whole in which the disruption of any individual component negatively affects the rest. The Golden Triangle and Oakland are the second and third largest commuter destinations in the commonwealth. The Port of Pittsburgh is the second largest inland port in the United States, largely due to the vast amount of coal that passes through our locks and dams. These economic engines are now threatened by a shortage of dedicated state funding for all aspects of transportation.

The Guyasuta Fellowship Program has spent the past half year studying Pennsylvania's transportation systems, assisted by state, regional and local agencies. Created by Pittsburgh Councilman William Peduto, the fellowship aims to develop policy leaders by having them study regional problems. It is not a political organization like Gov. Ed Rendell's Transportation Funding and Reform Commission, but rather a group of concerned citizens who this year have volunteered their time to help imagine and fund a long-term regional transportation vision.

After six months of study, one conclusion was inescapable: The state, regional and local transportation systems are all in crisis.

The American Society of Civil Engineers has given mediocre or poor grades to virtually every aspect of Pennsylvania's transportation infrastructure. The governor's transportation commission reported that more than $1 billion per year in additional funding is needed just to keep our roads, bridges and transit systems in their current condition.

The locks and dams along our rivers are antiquated and in almost total disrepair. Major regional transportation projects like the Mon-Fayette Expressway and the North Shore Connector are in limbo because funding has run out or is being substantially reduced to keep them alive. The Port Authority will run short of money in January, leading to substantially reduced service and increased fares, absent state action.

Faced with these and other problems, Mr. Rendell created the transportation commission to study the system and recommend long-term fixes. Last month, the commission released its final suggestions, which immediately were roundly criticized, due mainly to a proposed gasoline tax increase of 12.5 cents per gallon.

Why are higher gasoline taxes necessary? Pennsylvania has more road miles than New England and New Jersey combined and more bridges than all but seven other states. This means Pennsylvania needs more money to maintain its roads and bridges. It also is important to remember that the government is forbidden by the Pennsylvania Constitution from using gas-tax money on public transit; the proceeds go almost exclusively to road- and bridge-improvement projects, effectively making the gas tax a road and bridge user fee.

But new and increased taxes alone would not solve the funding crisis.

Locally, we recommend a major overhaul in the way the Port Authority does business. We call for the authority to abandon the hub-and-spoke system so that buses can make connections along spines like the busways and the "T," increasing the efficiency of the system and providing greater opportunities for transit to spur property development. We also suggest that the authority issue "service scorecards" to the public, provide real-time passenger and route information and stop approving unbalanced budgets.

Regionally, we encourage county transit authorities to collaborate on a more unified regional transit system to eliminate redundancies in service and reduce traffic in the Pittsburgh area.

Statewide, we strongly recommend creating a dedicated source of funding for public transportation that rises with inflation, increasing user fees for driver's licenses and vehicle registration, and increasing the number of roads on which the turnpike commission can charge tolls so as to free up existing transportation money for other maintenance projects. Perhaps most importantly, we advocate a "fix it first" policy -- as opposed to building new -- for transportation at all levels of government.

Pennsylvania's transportation infrastructure is in crisis, but the crisis presents an opportunity to create a modern system that is environmentally sound, economically efficient, easy to use and accessible to everyone.

What can you do to help? Visit us at www.guyasutafellow.com to learn more and to join in the conversation. Write or call your legislators and let them know that transportation is a priority. Join a grassroots advocacy group. Above all, remember that a breakdown in any part of our transportation system affects us all.

Christopher Kiehl is an attorney and 2006 Guyasuta Fellow (christopher.kiehl@gmail.com). This essay was written on behalf of this year's 85 fellows.