EBENSBURG —
Cambria County Transit Authority is keeping an eye on developments in Harrisburg as Gov. Ed Rendell and state lawmakers wrestle with budget revenue shortfalls in the wake of the federal decision blocking Pennsylvania from collecting tolls on Interstate 80, county Controller Ed Cernic Jr. said Friday.
Cernic, who is a member of the authority and its former chairman, said the transit authority’s budget is about $8 million a year, and much of it depends on state as well as federal funds.
This year’s state budget includes $472 million in anticipated revenues for PennDOT from I-80 tolls. The Federal Highway Administration turned down the toll plan. The money would have gone to public mass transit as well as for the state’s highways and bridges.
Cernic suggested that PennDOT will look at the upkeep of roads and bridges before it turns to funding mass transit during the budget crunch.
“We (the authority) will be watching that closely so we’re not in a bad position next year. But it’s almost impossible to plan for that,” he said.
He suggested that cutting bus routes “is not an option – at least at this point.”
CamTran is seeking $3.5 million in state capital funding as it looks toward a new operations/maintenance facility to replace the decaying 117-year-old facility the authority now maintains, Rose Lucey-Noll, executive director, said in a release.
Also in possible jeopardy is $145,847 in operating funds, she said.
“Not only will our future capital needs – including vehicle replacement and facility improvements – be in jeopardy, but the current level of service we provide to our communities will be unsustainable if operating funds are frozen or reduced,” Lucey-Noll said.
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