Most people know the proverb about the horseshoe nail -- "For want of nail, the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe, the horse was lost ..." -- and so on, until a kingdom was lost. The wisdom of that is now being played out in public transportation, the workhorse that many Pennsylvanians depend on to lead productive lives.

Across the state, public transportation suffers from the want of a dependable, dedicated stream of funding approved by the Legislature. In Allegheny County, the Port Authority was forced on Sunday to start its controversial plan of reducing service by 15 percent. But that is not the only service being threatened. Some Port Authority patrons may be able to adjust; not so these riders.

The federal government in 1998 set up a grant program called the Job Access and Reverse Commute. The idea was to assist people who were leaving the welfare rolls -- naturally, many of whom could not afford their own cars -- with transportation so they could get to jobs. The program also serves people who are better off, but still can't get to work with conventional public transportation.

This helpful program was tapped by a local consortium that included the Heritage Health Foundation, the Pittsburgh Foundation, the Port Authority, the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. Over the years, the group has been able to access millions of federal dollars by putting together the necessary funding matches from state and local sources. The result is an estimated million rides a year have been provided for poor people and others who need job-related transportation help.

All this is threatened because the Legislature has not renewed the state's share of funding, even though a June 30 deadline looms. The Legislature needs to approve $3.5 million -- a small amount in the context of a $26 billion state budget. It's the same amount as last year and the state doesn't have to produce the money immediately, just commit to it so that $4 million in federal funds can keep flowing.

For want of state money, the federal money will be lost. For want of federal money, some of the working poor in Pennsylvania will lose the ability to get to work.

In Monday's Post-Gazette, reporter Ann Belser portrayed the funding problem in terms of the stakes for real people. Her story focused on the WorkLine Community Van Service and the invaluable help it gives residents of communities like Prospect Terrace in East Pittsburgh, which is inaccessible to regular public transit.

But WorkLink is just one of 14 programs and services in southwestern Pennsylvania that, sooner or later, will cease if the Legislature doesn't OK a funding renewal by June 30. The federal money is waiting to be utilized. If it is lost and these programs are forced to close, it will be for a shameful want of both compassion and common sense.