DANVILLE - Members of the region's public transportation task force say they are building on the momentum of their recent conference and the Transportation Needs Assessment which they presented.
Within days of mid-November's Transit Summit 2011, held in Danville, the North Central Pennsylvania Public Transportation Taskforce (NCPPTT) was evaluating the results and considering its next steps. The long-range objective is a coordinated transit system serving Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties.
Mark Murawski, task force chairman, said in a press release issued by SEDA-Council of Governments that establishing a regionwide council to coordinate public and human service transportation may be a good beginning, as per one of the recommendations in the needs assessment. The council would be a forum in which projects, ideas, issues and opportunities are discussed on an ongoing basis.
During the two-year development of the needs assessment, there was extensive communication between NCPPTT and the region's public and private transit providers, many of whom were on the task force.
A centralized resource directory was also recommended, serving as an all-inclusive guide to transit services in the region, hours of services, areas of service, means of accessing them and the fares they charge.
Among the speakers at the summit was state Sen. Jake Corman, who addressed the state's need for transportation funding.
"Either we fix transportation problems," he said, "or individuals are going to pay more to drive around them." According to Corman, more than 40 bridges in the state are already closed, and the average detour adds 20 miles to a trip.
Corman acknowledged the political peril of increasing fees to raise needed revenue. "But," he said, "that's nothing compared to the peril of a bridge collapsing when you're driving over it."
Last month, Corman announced plans to introduce legislation that would implement the recommendations of a panel appointed by Gov. Tom Corbett to study transportation funding.