LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. – The more than $50 billion Pennsylvania state budget is signed, but public transit systems are on a financial cliff Monday.
Lawmakers in Harrisburg flat-funded public transportation, wiping out a boost many thought was needed.
“I take the bus literally every day,” said LANTA rider Jolonah Simmons.
For thousands in the Lehigh Valley, public transit isn’t a policy game, it’s a lifeline.
“My mom’s really busy. She can’t take me everywhere at any time,” said Simmons. “So, I always resort to using the bus.”
In a statement to 69 News, LANTA confirmed they adapted early by cutting services last year to prepare for a Harrisburg deadlock. But without fresh revenue, the agency warns of senior fare hikes in January.
“It was left unaddressed,” said Pa. Representative Mike Schlossberg. “Last year we passed, I want to say, five different pieces of legislation that would have changed the way we spend the sales and use tax in order to fund mass transit. And all five times, our friends in the Senate Republicans said no.”
Lawmakers like Representative Mike Schlossberg defend the passage of the budget but say strangling mass transit will slam the entire region’s workforce.
“The less people who take mass transit means more cars on the road, more time sitting in traffic, more wasted gas money, and less time at home with your families. It means less people who can actually work,” said Schlossberg. “There are too many people out there who go, oh, it’s just poor people on a bus. This is a Lehigh Valley economic issue. Mass transit is the backbone of Pennsylvania’s economy.”
With budget bills written and lawmakers on summer recess, riders are left watching the clock.
“It’s going to be at the top of the agenda next year, if not sooner,” said Schlossberg. “There’s ways we can get this thing done.”
For LANTA, a spokesperson says if additional funding doesn’t come, it likely be forced to make significant additional service reductions.