HARRISBURG -- Gov. Ed Rendell has taken the first step toward leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike to a private operator.

He sent out notices yesterday to potential bidders, asking them to reply, by Oct. 1, on their qualifications for running and maintaining the 530-mile roadway that crosses Pennsylvania from east to west and runs a northern branch from Philadelphia to Scranton.

"Each potential bidder is asked to submit detailed information about its team, its toll road operations experience and capabilities, its customer service record, its experience with safety issues and its financial capabilities," Mr. Rendell said.

All the responses from private firms that want to run the turnpike will be made public, he added. The responses will be judged by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Morgan Stanley, the state's financial adviser.

Seeking qualified firms would be an initial step toward leasing the turnpike as a way to raise money for fixing state roads, bridges and transit systems. In the past Mr. Rendell has said he thinks the state could get as much as $1.7 billion a year, for up to 99 years, from leasing a valuable state asset like the turnpike.

He has not yet gone so far as to ask potential bidders to state specifically how much they would pay the state to lease the turnpike. General Assembly approval would be needed before any lease would be completed.

The Legislature this summer approved Act 44, which is a two-part bill aimed at raising about $950 million a year for 10 years to upgrade roads, bridges and transit. It would increase tolls on the turnpike by 25 percent in 2009 and impose, for the first time, tolls on Interstate 80.

But two Republican congressmen, U.S. Reps. Phil English and John Peterson, both from northwestern Pennsylvania, have taken action in Congress to stop the state from tolling I-80.

That's why Mr. Rendell said he wants to proceed with a potential lease of the turnpike -- to give the state an option in case Mr. English and Mr. Peterson are successful.

"Opponents are lining up to fight tolls on I-80 and two congressmen have added language in pending federal legislation that could destroy a significant portion of Act 44's financial foundation," the governor said.

But Steve MacNett, a Republican Senate counsel, said Mr. Rendell's action on the turnpike could confuse federal officials and make it more difficult to defeat the Peterson/English effort against I-80 tolls.

"He is complicating the matter of securing federal approval (of I-80 tolls) by suggesting to federal officials that the state doesn't yet know whether it's serious about the I-80 tolling proposal," Mr. MacNett said. "What he's doing is risky."