Transportation Funding Commission Omission

Upon a moment’s reflection there is an obvious and glaring flaw in a newly appointed commission set up for the express and single purpose of looking for funding sources for the state’s transportation systems. Here’s a better idea. How about a commission to look for ways to solve the problems facing transportation?

For one thing, the eagerness to lump mass transit in with highways and bridges is a mistake. There are vastly different issues involved that should be examined separately. Transit operations are localized and have localized issues. Port Authority in Allegheny County, for example, is beset by vast financial problems of its own making and more funding will not solve them until the underlying problems are addressed.

Then too, road and bridge work faces unnecessarily high costs because of the requirement that employees on these projects be paid a prevailing wage. Before the Governor or the Legislature enact any new funding plan for transportation, they should take a long, hard and honest look at how much the prevailing wage requirement is adding to the annual cost of supporting transportation projects.

Further, do we know for sure that the engineering, design, and implementation procedures-including letting of contracts-used by the state are the best available and devoid of political favoritism? If not, why not?

This commission, with its unfortunate single focus on finding funding sources, is missing an important opportunity to find ways to save money or do things more efficiently. Looking for funding only sends a message that enables the spenders of the money to be less assiduous in their search for cost savings.