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Fully endorsing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's pending application before the Federal Highway Administration to toll Interstate 80.
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WHEREAS, In 2006, the Pennsylvania Transportation Funding and Reform Commission concluded that the deteriorating condition of Pennsylvania's highway and transit infrastructure required immediate action to address the Commonwealth's transportation funding crisis; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania faces an annual transportation funding deficit of more than $1.6 billion for aging infrastructure that includes 21,000 miles of state-owned secondary roads that are rated poor, state-owned bridges that are on average 50 years old, twice the percentage of structurally deficient bridges than the national average, and 1,754 miles of interstate roads that are laden with double the national average of truck traffic; and
WHEREAS, The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) provides nearly 1 million daily passenger trips throughout the five-county region, accounting for approximately 70% of all commutes into and around Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, According to the Federal Transit Administration's 2009 Rail Modernization Study, SEPTA's aging infrastructure could require as much as $4 billion to bring the system to a state of good repair over the next 50 years; and
WHEREAS, In July 2007, the Pennsylvania Legislature created a state-wide solution to a state-wide crisis and passed Act 44, establishing for the first time an inflation sensitive, long-term funding mechanism to solve Pennsylvania's transportation-funding crisis; and
WHEREAS, Act 44 authorized the Commonwealth to apply for federal approval for the tolling of Interstate 80 to fund its reconstruction and allow other funds to be directed to additional highway and transit needs across the Commonwealth, preserving viable and vital transportation infrastructure integral to regional economic development; and
WHEREAS, If the Commonwealth's tolling application is not approved, state-wide funding for highways will decrease by $350 million and by $150 million for transit, and SEPTA will lose more than $110 million further delaying critical safety repairs and asset modernization; and
WHEREAS, Infrastructure spending not only enhances the quality of life of all Pennsylvanians but creates thousands of long-term jobs critical to America's economic recovery; now therefore be it,
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby fully endorse the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's pending application before the Federal Highway Administration to toll Interstate 80.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.
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