The Turnpike Commission just announced a five percent across the board toll increase that will go into effect in January next year—the seventh consecutive year of toll hikes. The boost in toll rates is occasioned by the statutory requirement imposed on the Turnpike to provide $450 million to support public transit.  Before the recent Transportation Bill of last November, the $450 million was split between roads and public transit, now it all goes to transit.

In order to come up with the money, the Turnpike Commission has issued bonds to cover the expense. Beginning with 2007 when Act 44 was passed and the transfer of funds mandated, the Turnpike will have borrowed almost $4.5 billion through 2014. That borrowing has pushed up the bond service outlays necessitating toll increases to pay for them.

Of course, the reaction by people who use the Turnpike is one of anger.  Many believe that it is simply Turnpike mismanagement and corruption. No doubt there is good reason to think that but the reality is the Turnpike cannot borrow $450 million year after year without seeking additional revenue. The blame must lie with Act 44 and the Legislature’s unwillingness to remove the funding requirement right away—although it will be reduced to $50 million after 2022.  The particularly galling part of the issue is that the entire transfer of funds is dedicated to mass transit bringing an additional $250 million per year to transit from the Turnpike.

In short, Turnpike users are providing a massive annual subsidy to transit riders across Pennsylvania with the Philadelphia area and the Pittsburgh region the big beneficiaries accounting for 90 percent of the total support funding.  Sadly, the extra dollars going to the Port Authority of Allegheny County will almost certainly get mostly eaten up by successful demands to reverse  concessions made in the last contract negotiations.  Facing the threat of a strike, the transit authority board will cave since they will no longer be able to claim they don’t have the money. So it is that in yet another act of bad legislation, the transit authorities were given big permanent increases in funding while the right of transit workers to strike and shut down mass transportation was left in place.  Strike threats over the years were the principal causal factor in the Port Authority’s financial mess that led to service cuts and layoffs.

Thus, other than soaking taxpayers and Turnpike users for ever more transit dollars, nothing has changed.