Gov. Corbett has a $2 billion transportation plan for Pennsylvania

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has a plan to inject nearly $2 billion of additional funding into Pennsylvania's transportation system.

“Every year, nearly half-a-trillion dollars worth of goods and services move through our state transportation system,” Corbett said. “Transportation is the bloodstream of our economy. If it fails, our economy fails.”

Pennsylvania’s current transportation funding shortfall has been an ongoing concern that has resulted from inflation, reduced tax income due to more fuel-efficient vehicles, and decades of under investing.

“I am proposing two adjustments to the way we provide for our transportation needs,” Corbett said. “I am calling on the legislature to pass a 17 percent reduction in the flat liquid fuels tax paid by consumers at the pump. Second, I am asking the general assembly to begin a five-year phase out of an artificial and outdated cap on the tax paid by oil and gas companies on the wholesale price of gasoline; it is time for the oil and gas industry to pay their fair share of the cost of the infrastructure supporting their industry.”

By the fifth year of the plan’s full implementation, it is estimated to provide approximately $250 million for transit and $80 million for a multi-modal fund including improvements to railways.

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