HARRISBURG -- The partnership seeking to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike has withdrawn its offer, at least temporarily closing off another option for funding the state's transportation and public transit needs.

Pennsylvania Transportation Partners, made up of Abertis of Spain and Citigroup of New York City, allowed its $12.8 billion offer to lease the turnpike to expire yesterday. The lease would have lasted for 75 years, which many legislators said was far too long to have such a key state highway run by a group that included a foreign-based company.

For several weeks the proposed lease has generally been seen as dead politically. Opposition came from the politically powerful Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission; key legislators like Rep. Joe Markosek, D-Monroeville, chairman of the House Transportation Committee; and the Teamsters Union, which represents many of the turnpike's 2,300 workers.

Even pressure from the lease's highest-profile backer, Gov. Ed Rendell, wasn't enough to get the House or Senate to vote on it. Mr. Rendell had hoped to invest the one-time, upfront payment of $12.8 billion as a means of generating about $1 billion a year for road and bridge improvements and aid for mass transit. He said the state needs that money in light of the federal government's refusal to allow tolls on Interstate 80.

The governor said he remains committed to "pursing legislation to allow a lease of the turnpike," but that won't happen for several months, if at all.