This edition of E-motion is intended to provide you with an overview of various topics making state headlines this week. Clearly, transportation issues continue to be a major issue Pennsylvania lawmakers are wrestling with as the adoption of the 2008-2009 state budget approaches.
National expert testifies before Pa. House committee
The U.S. should be investing at least $225 billion per year in surface transportation – roughly three times the level of current investment – to accommodate robust economic growth, according to testimony presented recently to the House Transportation Committee.
Jack Schenendorf, vice chair of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, traveled to Harrisburg to brief the committee on the commission’s findings. Schenendorf was a longtime congressional staff member and a nationally recognized expert on transportation policy.
He noted that China, India and other global competitors are positioned to pull ahead of the U.S. and in many cases already have in terms of infrastructure investment.
“We cannot have a first-rate economy if we have a second or third-rate transportation system,” Schenendorf said.
Math Lesson
In the last issue of E-motion, we reported on the reaction to Senator John McCain’s “gas-tax holiday” proposal, since embraced by Senator Hillary Clinton. Here’s a little math that gives the proposal some additional perspective:
If you drive 15,000 miles per year in a car that gets 25 miles per gallon, you’ll consume about 50 gallons of gasoline per month. For the three months of the proposed “holiday,” you’ll therefore purchase 150 gallons of gasoline at a discount of 18.4 cents per gallon (the federal gas tax), for a grand savings of exactly $27.60!
Meanwhile, according to PennDOT, Pennsylvania will lose $400 million in federal highway funds. Because each $1 billion in highway construction creates 35,000 jobs, that means Pennsylvania would lose 14,000 jobs as a consequence of this “holiday.”
Popular Mechanics
The magazine spent a year compiling a special report on rebuilding America’s infrastructure. You can access the article here.
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