2011 Primaries - Allegheny County Executive Edition

Just like death and taxes, elections are an inevitable life event. In Pittsburgh, primaries will be held on May 17. As a registered Democrat, I will attempt to share my opinions and some facts about the Democratic candidates for office.

This is a special year for the county. Why? After his drubbing in the state governor's race, Dan Onorato, our beloved County Executive, has decided against running for the esteemed office.

As an especially informed voter this year, I had the pleasure of listening to the canned speeches of 2 of Dan's potential successors. Unfortunately, they both seem about the same to me - going on and on about their grand plan to subvert the court's fair decision to re-assess property in Allegheny County and praising themselves and the county for avoiding property tax increases over the past 10 years while back-handedly calling our unfair tax paying residents suckers under their breath.

Both of the candidates seem to be riding the coattails of Dan Onorato's successful avoidance of property tax reassessments, their untarnished names, and pretty much nothing else, but they both showed up to my neighborhood association to campaign and give their spiel, so I have to give them credit where credit is due.

Mark Patrick Flaherty - Allegheny County Controller. Lives in Mt Lebanon with his wife and 1 daughter. Wants to study Marcellus Shale drilling further and then profit from it. Will go along with the court's wishes (against his wishes) to reassess property and attempt to insure it is done in a transparent easy-to-appeal manner. Wants light rail to the airport and all suburbs, doesn't think that the drink tax was the right solution for funding Port Authority, but says: "we have to go back to the drawing board and find a solution, because the town cannot function without public transit."

Rich Fitzgerald - Allegheny County Council President. Lives in Squirrel Hill with his wife and 8 children. Wants responsible taxed Marcellus Shale Drilling. He "opposes any effort to implement the court ordered tax reassessments." No mention of Port Authority on his election issues page.

Of these 2 candidates, I'm leaning toward Mr Flaherty. His highlighting of Port Authority on his campaign website and his willingness to follow the court's orders endear him to me.

On the Republican side, Raja, the Mt Lebanon commissioner, appears to be the favorite, which should shape up for a competitive election come the fall. Raja's running against the scoundrel we all love to hate, County Councilor Chuck McCullough.

All Hail Lenzner

On March 27, Port Authority of Allegheny County will cut routes, frequencies, buses, and drivers from their payroll in an effort to survive.

Private bus company Lenzner Coach Lines is taking up the slack for one route. They are paying Port Authority for the ability to offer reduced service. There will be no free senior and student rides. There will be no discounted disability service. There will only be 4 roundtrips per week day with no weekend trips. You will have to reserve an entire month's worth of trips to step on the bus. If Port Authority offered that service for the bargain-basement price of $3.25 each way, there would be riots in the street. But Lenzner will be charging $5.00 each way and make a profit. Yes, Port Authority, people would rather pay higher fares than not take the bus.

Of course, the Port Authority brought in only $93 Million in operating revenue (i.e. fares) in 2010. They had $397 Million in expenses. Employee wages and salaries alone accounted for $143 Million. Yes, current fares don't even cover current employee wages. That doesn't include employee benefits (like the costly pension system) which were an additional $126 Million in 2010. These are astounding numbers which actually tell you that fares mean very little in the grand scheme of things.

The state helped out significantly by dropping $184 Million in the bucket last year. The county offered a relatively piddling $27 Million on top of that. With the cost of pensions continuing to explode (a $13 Million increase just last year), reading these numbers seems pretty bleak. Port Authority is not sustainable even if it could triple its fares and not lose any riders. State government led by Governor Corbett would rather just shut their eyes, plug their ears, and ignore the problem.

It's easy to blame Port Authority's runaway expenses. But if you think Port Authority's expenses are ridiculous, keep this in mind:
PennDOT alone has a budget of $3.8 Billion, which is completely independent from the Turnpike budget, and the thousands of Pennsylvania county municipality road budgets.

So in short, Port Authority needs to make these cuts. There is no knight in shining armor stepping in to pony up 10% more in funding every year just to cover increased pension obligations. And in 10 years, I won't be too surprised to learn that Lenzner is operating more and more of our bus lines and light rail. We've brought this on ourselves by blaming Port Authority and shutting our eyes. I just feel bad for Grandma.

My advice to Lenzner? Don't start offering any of those pesky pensions.

Downtown Parking Thanksgiving

Mr Benter of the Benter Foundation got fed up with searching for parking downtown, so he directed his foundation to spend $175,000 to develop ParkPGH. Currently, the application-website tells users the availability of parking at 8 downtown garages in the Cultural District.

In January, ParkPGH will add a ninth location, the parking authority garage at Ninth Street and Penn Avenue. At that point, the system will encompass 5,300 spaces -- 25 percent of Downtown garage capacity.

If I'm doing the math correctly, that means there are 21,200 parking spaces available in downtown parking garages.

The system potentially benefits 2 million annual Cultural District visitors and about 150,000 daily Downtown commuters.

So we have 21,2000 parking spaces available downtown for 150,000 daily commuters. That means the vast majority of downtown workers park elsewhere and walk or take public transportation downtown.

On Tuesday night, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission narrowly voted to bail out Port Authority with an extra $45 Million they had lying around - on the condition that Port Authority still implements some cuts in March. When Port Authority enacts its slightly less catastrophic 15% compromise service cuts in March, at least all those stranded downtown workers will be able to watch the parking garages fill in real-time on their iPhone.

And to make it a parking trifecta this week, Pittsburgh City Council is fast-tracking a plan to lease our parking garages and bail out the city's own pension fund. The good news? The garages will only be leased for 40 years (instead of 50) and the city will be eligible for profit-sharing from the garages. The bad news? They're still leasing the parking meters and giving up control over parking throughout the city and not ultimately solving the city's long-term pension woes.

So in summary, thanks to Mr Benter for actually getting something done. Thanks to the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission for stepping in where the state repeatedly refuses to tread - even if the money comes with strings attached. And thanks that I'm not a Pittsburgh City Councilor stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Happy Hanukkah from Governor Rendell!

Governor Rendell has put me in the holiday spirit! He just announced funding for averting catastrophic Port Authority service cuts in March.

Once again, a one-time emergency fix has bailed out the long-suffering public transportation agency. Once again, the ball is back in the State's court to come up with a dedicated funding stream for transit. Perhaps Governor Corbett can rename the Johnstown Flood Tax, which has been making a mockery of that catastrophe for decades in the name of slush funding, to the Public Transportation tax, making a strong stand in this state that if you buy liquor you're funding the drunk buses. Perhaps, they can also start issuing busperks for each case of beer you buy?

Honestly, not only did Rendell save my bus line (and dozens of others) with his dogged attempts to not give up on public transportation even in his final days of office, he also saved this blog. There's only so much defeat this blogger can overcome. So you have one more year of decent bus service, and one more year of me blogging.

Happy holidays!

Bye-Bye Buses, Hello Bikes

Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAAC) is planning record cuts in bus service largely due to a reduction in state funding this year and going forward. With a new conservative Governor-elect, Port Authority funding is likely to only continue its decline at the state level and our illustrious local officials seem perfectly content to face the demise of public transportation while claiming it's not their problem.

But all is not lost. There's no time like the present to start biking in Pittsburgh. Next Fall, thanks to a final grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, all Port Authority buses will be equipped with bike racks. Currently, about 80% of the buses have bike racks. While your local bus stop (and entire line) may be cut, at least you can reliably bike between home and a further away bus stop. Perhaps it's Allegheny County's long-term plan to reduce its obesity rate which is sitting significantly higher than the national average? Personally, I'd prefer a tax on sugary drinks. A Carnegie Mellon University study last spring showed that a 1% county tax on the drinks would cut usage by 8% and generate $54 Million annually. If we can put the alcoholic drink tax toward Port Authority, why not share the burden with our sugar-guzzling friends? After all, obesity causes more deaths than just drinking alcohol.

But it's not too late for the state to at least restore some of its previous funding and stop shirking its responsibility. Go to keeppghmoving.com and make your voice heard.

Steve Bland Not So Reluctant

On June 14, I blogged that Steve Bland CEO of Port Authority, was "reluctant to raise the $2 base fare for Zone 1 because that would hurt its lowest-income customers and affect routes that are the most cost-effective." Instead, he threatened to raise suburban bus fares upwards of $7 one-way.

Who protested? The lowest-income customers who are busy putting food on their table? Or the downtown workers from the suburbs who can afford an increase the most? The results are pretty clear. Both zone 1 and zone 2 fares are going to raise by a whopping $0.25. In case you're not keeping track at home, that's a 12.5% increase in fare for the lowest-income customers who were already paying their way. The customers out in the suburbs will only see a 9% increase.

Not that the suburbanites are getting off easy in this highly probable round of cuts.

Among the 50-plus communities that would be left with no service are East McKeesport, Franklin Park, Glassport, Hampton, Indiana Township, Liberty, Marshall, North Versailles, Pennsbury Village, Port Vue, South Park and Wall, and the city neighborhoods of Banksville and Spring Garden. Service to the Edgewood Towne Centre and Robinson Town Centre shopping complexes would be abolished, the agency said.

But honestly, why does the Port Authority continue to subsidize suburban living when city dwellers are over-paying their fare share (and then some)? This is yet another case of poor judgment for the Port Authority. If the Port Authority unveiled a plan to charge the actual cost for each bus route (since they now have that data), people would be unhappy but they would understand the logic. Instead, we have unfair, illogical bus fare increases and radical service cuts insuring that everyone is unhappy.

Obviously, Port Authority wants us all to be angry and yell at our state legislators to restore funding for public transportation (which you should). But if Steve Bland is just playing a massive chess game with the state legislature, I'm afraid he's going to lose, and the lowest-income customers will be the biggest losers. So go contact your state legislators, and while you're at it, give Port Authority a piece of your mind.

Raising Bus Fares and other Taxes

Steve Bland, Port Authority's CEO, is facing some tough choices. An unexpected cut in state funding (due to the state's moronic dependence on inappropriately tolling Interstate 80) is forcing Port Authority to face $25 Million in less funding. The authority is pondering cutting routes, cutting service (including eliminating nights & weekends), and increasing fares.

Mr. Bland said the authority is reluctant to raise the $2 base fare for Zone 1 because that would hurt its lowest-income customers and affect routes that are the most cost-effective.

On some urban routes, the authority's cost per passenger is less than the $2 fare, he said. Meanwhile, on routes that serve outlying suburbs, the per-passenger cost is $7 or more and the fare just $2.75.

So what Mr Bland is saying is that lowest-income customers are actually helping to subsidize the outer zone customers? Sure, raise those outer zone fares. But keep in mind that if you make a round-trip bus fare on par with parking downtown, more people will drive and park downtown. Of course, if the state can get its act together and find some funding, most of these threats can be eliminated. From Marcellus Shale to chewing tobacco, there are lots of untapped revenue sources in this state. Unfortunately, legislators are afraid they'll lose their jobs if they raise the gas tax or find other tax sources. It's up to you to tell your legislator he or she will lose their job if they allow these massive public transportation cuts to happen.

Time To Get Serious About our Bridges

Fact: Pennsylvania bridges are in horrible shape.

"Pennsylvania leads the nation in the number of structurally deficient bridges, with 5,646," the governor said. That is more than the deficient bridges in the New England states, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio and Virginia combined.

Fact: Pennsylvania legislators are idiots. After the Bush administration rejected tolling of interstate 80 on the grounds that the tolls were going to spent on other roads besides 80, Pennsylvania legislators decided to ask the same exact question of the Obama administration. Needless to say, the "ask mommy" approach didn't work. Only now are they considering asking for the right to toll and repair those particular roads. But this time, it's an emergency and their casting their net as wide as interstates 95, 81, and 79.

Fact: Pennsylvania legislators are cowards. Legislators are afraid to raise taxes this year to solve this emergency problem because it's an election year. Of course, this isn't a unique problem to Pennsylvania. To them I say, it's a lot worse to have a bridge collapse on your watch than to raise taxes. Ask Minnesota. The I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis was rated "structurally deficient" for years before this heavily used bridge's 2007 collapse. PennDOT has started to make progress on repairing the thousands of structurally deficient bridges in Pennsylvania, but the progress is slow and steady. With a lack of funding we will again lose ground.

Minnesota learned their lesson the hard way. After the bridge's collapse, the state legislature passed a $0.055 per gallon fuel tax. Let's take our lessons from them and save our bridges before its too late. Of course, the best way to save our bridges from further deterioration is to decrease their usage. According to Port Authority of Allegheny County, one bus can take up to 60 cars off the road. One light rail vehicle can take up to 125 cars off the road. A double-pronged approach of repairing bridges and increasing funding to public transportation will go a long way towards solving our problems in Pennsylvania.

Two Snow Stories

What do people respond to? News and information.

Given the age of Facebook, Twitter, and Blogging, people expect information to be flowing constantly. As long as you have electricity and an internet connection, you can send out information on all these mediums and more.

Throughout snowmageddon, the Port Authority operated a twitter feed under the name @pghtransit. This user often gave updates people didn't like. The news was for a a few days really shitty with only a small fraction of Port Authority buses running. But @pghtransit continuously responded to folks, gave updates, and referred unknown questions to someone who might know the answers. When the Port Authority website was buckling under the weight of thousands of extra users, @pghtransit replicated service updates to the Port Authority blog. Port Authority gained countless amounts of goodwill through this storm.

On the other hand, the city of Pittsburgh claimed the city was plowing at full capacity and shut the hell up. The one access point users had to the city? 311 (when the line was open) which is by its nature a one-way street. There are no personal follow-ups from 311. The one response format? Press conferences from Luke Ravenstahl who assured us that he was doing better.

Why not have someone in the storm center sending out updates on Twitter? So simple. So cheap. Even Port Authority could do it. People don't need to just hear good news, they need all the news. To be fair, @nataliarudiak and @billpeduto did an admirable job of sharing their knowledge and complaining about the city services on twitter this weekend, but unfortunately, they didn't have enough information to actually be helpful to us folks trapped at home.

If you want Port Authority updates, go to twitter, their blog, or their website. If you want to know when your street will finally be plowed, I have no idea. But if you find out, please let me know.

Snow Thanks

• Thank you to all the good Samaritans who helped their neighbors shovel.
• Thank you to the plow drivers who worked ridiculous shifts to bring the roads to the almost-passable states they're at now.
• Thank you to the Port Authority bus drivers braving the roads so the rest of us don't have to. Check out @pghtransit for service updates.
• Thank you to the Duquesne Light electricians who restored my electricity in 24 hours or so.
• Most importantly, thank you to the many restaurants and bars that managed to open, so I had someplace warm and fun to go while waiting for power to be restored.
• Lastly, thank you to the Trib and Post-Gazette for finally picking up on the ridiculous water authority stunt I complained about 3 weeks ago.

The Mass-transit-acre Volume 2

It's been over 6 months since my last installment of the mass-transit-acre. That's not to say there haven't been accidents in the meantime, but this week's accidents were especially avoidable and/or destructive. Luckily, no one was killed.

Feb 2: Port Authority bus drives into a parked PennDOT salt truck. The driver received severe leg injuries.

Feb 3: This morning a crash involving a Port Authority bus and a car at CCAC in West Mifflin left the driver of the car with serious injuries.

To keep us all a little safer, the US Department of Transportation outlawed truck drivers and bus drivers from texting while driving their vehicles.

Now, if we can only get them to outlaw reading the newspaper...

Port Authority Police

Did you know Port Authority has its own police? In the past 8 years, they have expanded their operations to include digital forensics (2001), a bike unit (2002), and 2 canine units (2003).

For the past 2 years, this 39-member police force has been in time-consuming and money-consuming contract negotiations with Port Authority. What do they want? Health benefits just like the city and county police have. My suggestion? Port Authority stops wasting more county money and rolls this department into the County police department. Then the Port Authority officers can get the benefits they deserve. I shudder to think of all the duplication of services here between high-tech equipment, canine training, and an entire police station to say the least. How can we even begin to consider consolidating city and county services while entire police units roam wild?

"Members have the legal right to strike, though DelSole said the police had not decided whether to do so."

Of course, the big question is: Would anyone even notice if they went on strike?

Port Authority Plans

Port Authority is finished with another round of their system revamping. Overall, I'm pleased if personally a bit disappointed. Check out the final draft plans as well as my thoughts over at "Green Is Good".

The Mass-transit-acre

Bike-PGH has a regular "Car-nage" section in their blog where they discuss the regular car accidents that could have been avoided if everybody switched over to riding bicycles. Welcome to the mass-transit-acre. (It's a play on massacre. If you have a better quip, I'm all ears.)

Last month, I got some slack for posting on Port Authority accidents. Folks said it's just normal wear and tear because we have so many buses roaming the streets. I countered by saying that I don't want your-average-joe driving my bus. I've never managed to kill someone, and if you manage to kill someone while driving, you should not be driving a bus. I don't want to deter folks from taking the bus, but I still have the right to demand high standards for my bus drivers.

So far in June, we have two pedestrian victims:

June 2: A man was in critical condition after surgery because he "was running to catch the bus when he fell and was doubled over as the bus ran over him."

June 14: An elderly man "started running after the bus and was banging on its side, Ritchie said. He fell beneath the back of the articulated bus — a long vehicle with accordion-like joints — and was run over." This man died.

According to Port Authority spokesman Jim Ritchie, these tragedies are under investigation.

"In some cases, the investigation shows that our drivers did something that wasn't by the book. When that happens, they're cited or something is done internally," he said.

Do you guys really think a citation is good enough? Regarding the internal discipline:

"He [Ritchie] also said he could not divulge details about any possible internal discipline involving the drivers who were cited in the other crashes."

So, while under investigation, these drivers get paid leave, then when the investigation is finished they receive some unknown internal discipline and return to driving their buses? Aside from personal guilt, what is their deterrent? And where is the justice for these many victims?

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85 President, Pat McMahon, was quoted this week (regarding a non-accident investigation):

"Someone is doing something wrong if you're paying someone for 15 months to sit at home," he said.

When the president of your union steps forward and says something is wrong. Something needs to be done. Accidents happen everywhere. But there needs to be some serious accountability when an accident ends in a critical injury. If someone is under investigation, I want mandatory re-training, and I want a psychological evaluation as default "discipline."

Lastly, a word of advice, don't run after a bus. You'll be taking your life in your hands.

Moving Smart Forward

Pittsburgh already has smart cars zipping through the streets, but next year, we'll have smart cards, too. Seems like the money came through after all.

Still a lot of implementation details to be worked out, so voice your opinion on how you want them implemented now. You know I did.

Bus Changes Coming

Did you head downtown yesterday to voice your concerns about and enthusiasm for the upcoming Port Authority changes? Neither did I. But you still have at least one more chance to let your voice be heard - Monday night in Oakland.

Among the proposed changes:

1.) Eliminating some of the 15,000 stops. Currently, the bus stops are way too clustered. The new plan: "On some routes, the proposed changes call for stops a quarter-mile apart -- a 15-minute walk at a moderate pace." (I know they're accounting for Pittsburgh-level fitness and terrain here but a "moderate" pace makes you walk a 20-minute mile - or about 5 minutes for a quarter mile - a very reasonable time to be expected to walk for public transportation.)

2) Reducing the ridiculous and confusing route variations. "For instance, the 46G Elizabeth route, which currently has 36 variations, would have just two."

3) Making the 28X an actual airport express by eliminating the time-consuming detour through Robinson. This one deserves the most mention because it could make the service a lot more appealing to every level of airport rider. I'll happily pay extra (it's only $2.60 right now to get to the airport) for more added convenience.

To see how you could personally be effected, check out: Concept 1 & Concept 2

Personally, I'm a big fan of Concept 2 which puts a highlights on our existing light rail services and increases the frequency of existing light rail service. We barely have any light-rail in our city, and as it stands now we're barely using it. Let's maximize what we have, integrate the new North Shore Connector into existing routes, and keep building.

If all goes well, these changes could be voted on as soon as September.

See you Monday!

Port Authority Endangering Lives?

Another day, another Port Authority accident.

When will there be some accountability for bus drivers in the city of Pittsburgh? Today, "Port Authority spokesman Jim Ritchie says the 77B Penn Hills bus was rounding a bend in North Oakland when the driver lost control and the bus jumped a curb." Several passengers were injured. My guess is this driver was driving recklessly because I have seen that happen too many times in Oakland.

May 21? Port Authority bus hits bicyclist.

May 19? Cars rear-end Port Authority bus.

May 8? Port Authority bus rear-ended.

January 19? Woman killed in car / Port Authority bus accident.

And these are all the results of a brief google search. Add to this the countless stories of friends and myself almost or getting hit by buses. A few years ago, my brother's car was hit by a Port Authority bus. He told them, and they just sent him a check for the damages. No questions asked. How commonplace is this? How are these accidents handled within Port Authority management? Is there a regular process of firing these reckless drivers which endanger pedestrians, riders, bicyclists, and other drivers?

In case, you like many other people in Pittsburgh are at the losing end of an encounter with a Port Authority, there is a due process to follow as outlined in the Post-Gazette way back in 2006 which vents the frustrations that existed back then.

Bike-PGH sets the steps out plainly:

If you’re ever involved in an accident (or incident) with a Port Authority be sure to:

1. Write down the four digit bus identifier number on the back of the bus along with the route number
2. Call the police
3. File a claim with Port Authority by calling 412.442.2000
4. Go directly to your Magisterial District Judge

So remember, if you get in an accident with a Port Authority bus, publicize it and report it. It is ridiculous that the people of Pittsburgh need to live in fear of the buses.

Gas-Powered Rocket Science

Gas prices go up, we drive less. Gas prices go down, we drive more. Gas is averaging $1.50 less per gallon than last year and like clockwork, we Americans will be hitting the road and guzzling it up - though maybe with slightly older cars and slightly less SUVs.

At the same time, Rendell and company are beginning the fight for raising the gas tax and more tolls - as well as more standardized public transportation and roadwork funding. The gas tax hasn't been raised in 25 years and the 7,000 earmarks scheduled for this summer's transportation bill make Pittsburgh's repaving schedule look like a transparent, well-oiled machine. Clearly, this system of rewarding SUV drivers at the expense of bus-riders is broken. Finally, someone in power is seriously trying to fix it.

In the meantime, I implore you to continue thinking about the ramifications every time you fill up your car at the gas station, every time you drive to the nearby convenience store instead of walking or taking a bike, every time you're sitting in your car alone during rush hour. And maybe if you all can't be inspired to change your ways by retoric, some well-placed gas taxes will clearly help to deter your bad habits. Through education and taxes, cigarette smoking has sharply declined in this country over the past 50 years. Let's do the same with the vice of oil consumption.

Changes to Port Authority

One of the good things about being out of the country for 3 months is that things seem to happen more quickly. For instance, when I was in Pittsburgh it was a slow waiting game for Port Authority to announce their new transit initiatives, but today relatively out-of-the-blue, they announced their preliminary findings and by the time I'm back (in June), they'll be well into the next public input phase and thinking about actually implementing these plans.

Things I'm psyched about?

• Reducing the number of stops to somewhere below 16,000.
• Reducing the mind-boggling route variations
• Renaming/color-coding routes to reduce confusion and the steep learning curve
• Direct route to the airport without stopping at Robinson
• Bus priority at stop lights
• Fare boxes outside the buses where you can buy tickets
  

What I'm disappointed about the process?
1500 people showed up at meetings to comment on this overhaul. Only 900 people commented on the website, including myself. Only in Pittsburgh do you have more people who are willing to drag themselves to a public meeting than surf the web. This speaks to 2 things. First a lack of publication by Port Authority in the right circles. If they had pushed their agenda at colleges or in the City Paper or perhaps online advertising at the Post-Gazette, they should have had thousands of online responses. Hopefully, they will work to rectify this lack of feedback in the next few months.

I have a few hooks they can use to get some more college student responses:
"Want to rename the 54C to the 'Drunk Bus'? Fill out this survey!"
"Want to be able to take the bus after you get your 3AM hot dog fix at the O?"
"Want a quicker ride to Giant Eagle, Ikea, or the movies? Fill out this survey!"

An extra bonus? Hold a raffle for the people who complete the surveys and give away a free month bus pass to one lucky winner to encourage the non-college student crowd. Good old-fashioned paper surveys distributed to the buses wouldn't hurt either. In the meantime, make yourself heard online.

On the flip side, kudos to the Port Authority for getting 1500 people to voice their opinions in person.

I am also a big fan of their seemingly new goal of increasing ridership and cutting per-passenger costs. It's about time someone had an actual plan for Port Authority instead of just ignoring it while it bloats along while regularly cutting service and increasing fares.

Good Day For Mass Transit

So I spend yesterday lambasting Onorato for creating schisms between county and city and today he goes and proves me wrong. Onorato wrote a letter requesting money for transit links between Downtown, Oakland and the airport. In fact the headline for the Post-Gazette article is:

Onorato eyes rail links to airport, Oakland

Of course, I have to look closer.

The "fine print" for this letter breaks down Onorato's requests as such:
$7 Million for downtown mass transit system design
$10.5 Million for commuter rail system design
------
Total: $17.5 Million

$25 Million for a road in Robinson
$32 Million for a road in Upper St Clair and Scott
$35 Million for the Mansfield Bridge which connects Dravosburg, Glassport and McKeesport.
$12 Million for a flyover ramp in Rankin and Swissvale
$4.5 Million for road improvements in Marshall
$2.5 Million for road construction in Monroeville
$7 Million for traffic improvements in Brackenridge near a steel plant
------
Total: $118 Million

So $17.5 Million out of a total $135.5 Million (about 13%) of his requests are for mass transit.

I understand that the elephant in the room here is the dreaded North Shore connector which is gobbling up a lot of funding right now.

I also understand that these transit projects will cost ultimately cost billions of dollars but they're only in the design phases right now and there's a limit to how much money you can request for design.

However, I seriously question the short-term vision of our local government who only finds these projects worth pursuing when they are in national favor. Imagine if someone a few years ago had the gumption and follow-through to initiate these studies and if we were ready to go on a spineline between Oakland and Downtown instead of working on a half-assed North Shore connector which no one is truly happy about. What happens in 4 years if Obama is no longer in power and our pathetic local leaders still are (and perhaps Onorato has his governor prize)? Will we then be left with yet more money being spent on highways and interchanges and more transit plans being curtailed and swept under the rug? Will we end up with a new tunnel to the South Side as a booby prize?

But in the meantime, I am very excited to see mass-transit plan being seriously considered even if it's local leaders jumping on the bandwagon. I like this bandwagon. I'd just appreciate some serious long-term regional commitment to spending time and effort on improving our transit systems because right now I feel like it could all disappear at the drop of a hat.