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I had breakfast with the headmaster of one of Philadelphia's most prestigous private Quaker schools - the one where my landlord sends his children - one morning about a year or so ago.
This gentleman, a rather scholarly-looking African-American, said this to me:
"There is a lot of waste in the Philadelphia public schools' budget. And the School District is underfunded. I usually say the second sentence first."
There is a very strong possibility that this applies to the transportation infrastructure budget at the state level as well.
You mention that more people are driving more, and you contend that this should mean we're getting more money into the transportation trust fund pot.
Here's why (a) that may not be the case and (b) even if it were, it might still not be enough:
(a) Let's say that vehicle miles traveled climbed 10 percent over a five-year period, but fuel efficiency rose 20 percent. Assuming the motor fuel tax remains constant over those five years, that produces a 10 percent drop in total revenue. We have seen that the Federal gas tax has produced diminishing revenues despite increases in VMT because of improved fuel efficiency, especially in our most gas-guzzling vehicles.
(b) Let's say that VMT and total revenue remained constant (i.e., no change in fuel efficiency) over that same span but construction costs rose at the general rate of inflation. That will leave the trust fund short of money to fund what's needed too. Granted, inflation has been nearly nonexistent since the start of the Great Recession, but - as others have pointed out to you - Federal and state gas taxes had remained unchanged from the late 1980s until very recently, and we have had inflation over that time period.
You've had several people with better knowledge of the transportation finance picture than I have explain to you that some combination of (a) and (b) above have had a negative impact on our transportation trust funds' ability to finance needed road work. Add to that the need to finance mass transit infrastructure out of the same pot, an obligation that many states, including Pennsylvania, added only after 1980, and the situation gets even worse for the road budget.
IOW, your "get rid of corruption and everything will be fine" argument simply doesn't hold water. Even if Harrisburg and our cities were squeaky clean, there still wouldn't be enough money to do the job without some additional revenue from somewhere.
No, I didn't mean to sound as if we get rid of corruption everything will be fine, and I also believe I've explained that while all of your theories on fuel efficiencies, electric cars, hybrids, designs, materials, etc...are all a collective part of the problem, but, if you get rid of crime, every thing else seems to fall into place....
you have all admitted you know there is corruption....and that is the part that needs to be solved...when that happens, then we'll move on into more ways to complete restructuring the roads needed, but for now, all I'm concerned about is the corruption, within the state of PA and all other areas of our government and communities. People have to learn how to save money for a rainy day once again...it's all spend, spend, spend....and we have to put people in office, that will be trained to do a better job.
Look at the new, NJ Governor. He is going around bragging about his new cabinet, stating he's got more minorities on the payroll than any other state in the U.S.?????? Oh, isn't that special...and he is going to be running the state of NJ...what about competence, and are these people the best that he could find, if so, perfect, but....? Someone who has to brag about something like that, well, lets just say, as woman/minority, I wouldn't be at all proud of working for someone like him. Total incompetence....
the same goes for our PA leaders...it's time they wise up...instead of spending our money unwisely, they need to become dedicated to their jobs/people that has hired them.
Everyone already knows that the system needs to change because of corruption and incompetence. The truth is that no one knows how to do it. I don't believe that voting is a sufficient solution. And our leaders are certainly not going to just wise up, that's for sure.
Everyone already knows that the system needs to change because of corruption and incompetence. The truth is that no one knows how to do it. I don't believe that voting is a sufficient solution. And our leaders are certainly not going to just wise up, that's for sure.
EXPOSE the wrong doers...speak up, we all have to do the right thing, if you know someone is doing something wrong, expose them....period.
Everyone grows quiet b/c of their jobs, they fear loosing their jobs...they fear what that person might do....but we all have to join forces collectively to stop this corruption...we have to....
all the other ideas people have pointed out in this thread were great ideas...but it wasn't what this thread was about...it was about the corruption going on in PA...
all this corruption didn't just happen overnight, it happened over the past 50 years, a little here, a little there, and so on....like a ripple effect, until you have what we have now.
I cannot do it all on my own....we as neighbors, who are and should be working together, doing our part.
and our part isn't about walking into a voting booth and pulling that lever, it is about doing your homework, (I don't mean you, I'm talking in general) we all need to call our politicians out if we know they are doing something corrupt.
Otherwise that corruption grows...and grows and before you know it, we're all in a pickle.
Every single thing you do and say, effects the lives of others, it can be in a positive way or a negative way, but you talk about the tree of life....our words and actions branch out to everyone we work with, everyone we come in contact with, our parents, friends, children, aunts, uncles, etc....if we all collectively work together, we can move mountains.
Baby steps, one day at a time....it took a long time to get here and it's going to take a long time to fix, it but it can be done...
Look at how many posts it took for all you guys to understand where I was going with this....blaming everything else, and I was talking about the corruption and everyone kept excusing it.... and grasping for every other reason our state is going broke? It is mismanagement of money....
I just don't see how you're going to encourage people who are benefiting from doing so (cutting corners, accepting bribes, etc), much less getting people to put their own jobs at risk. There's a reason that things are the way they are right now. Truth be told, elected officials are a reflection of the public in general. And with 330M+ people in the country, what you're suggesting requires a change in culture.
I just don't see how you're going to encourage people who are benefiting from doing so (cutting corners, accepting bribes, etc), much less getting people to put their own jobs at risk. There's a reason that things are the way they are right now. Truth be told, elected officials are a reflection of the public in general. And with 330M+ people in the country, what you're suggesting requires a change in culture.
yes, your right, if your leaders are corrupt, so to will your people be....
I guess this entire thread is a wash....waste of time...
but I wish to thank you and everyone who offered here...sorry to waste anyone's time.
Everyone already knows that the system needs to change because of corruption and incompetence. The truth is that no one knows how to do it. I don't believe that voting is a sufficient solution. And our leaders are certainly not going to just wise up, that's for sure.
Tennessee was proud that in one ten hour day they would mill, recycle, and pave five miles of asphalt in one ten hour work day. Sometimes they would even line and grove the road at the same time. I have watched as PA would take the whole paving season to repave two or three miles and ours would not last near as long as Tennessee's.
Tennessee does have a vested interest in proficiency since their state builds the Roadtec paving and milling machines. While traveling across our State I have seen glimmers of hope; we still have a long ways to go. I still feel that District 5 is one of the worst areas in our State. Right now, about a mile from our house, they worked on one two mile section of old Route 611 all last year and only really worked on the utilities - the road is still in terrible condition. It was full of potholes and they brought in small milling and paving machines and it looks like a patchwork quilt. They should remove the broken concrete under the highway; but they have cut through it with saws for drainage and utilities - doubtful they will remove all the concrete. Of course they will spend all summer still working on a project that will be full of potholes in the near future.
I worry about the 'system' we have in PA where one contractor gets all of the contracts in one particular area. I had mentioned this before and I really do not know how to change that. Like I mentioned before we have a contractor in Philadelphia that owns at least one stone quarry here in my County (maybe they own many more). Since crushed rock is the primary ingredient in pavement; how do we get other companies to compete? We don't want our mountains disappearing all over the place because we want competition - their company already made a mountain disappear. So how do we open the biding up for competitive bidding when one company owns the source of the materials? This isn't just in one area of our State; many areas always have the same contractors on major State projects.
Tennessee was proud that in one ten hour day they would mill, recycle, and pave five miles of asphalt in one ten hour work day. Sometimes they would even line and grove the road at the same time. I have watched as PA would take the whole paving season to repave two or three miles and ours would not last near as long as Tennessee's.
Tennessee does have a vested interest in proficiency since their state builds the Roadtec paving and milling machines. While traveling across our State I have seen glimmers of hope; we still have a long ways to go. I still feel that District 5 is one of the worst areas in our State. Right now, about a mile from our house, they worked on one two mile section of old Route 611 all last year and only really worked on the utilities - the road is still in terrible condition. It was full of potholes and they brought in small milling and paving machines and it looks like a patchwork quilt. They should remove the broken concrete under the highway; but they have cut through it with saws for drainage and utilities - doubtful they will remove all the concrete. Of course they will spend all summer still working on a project that will be full of potholes in the near future.
I worry about the 'system' we have in PA where one contractor gets all of the contracts in one particular area. I had mentioned this before and I really do not know how to change that. Like I mentioned before we have a contractor in Philadelphia that owns at least one stone quarry here in my County (maybe they own many more). Since crushed rock is the primary ingredient in pavement; how do we get other companies to compete? We don't want our mountains disappearing all over the place because we want competition - their company already made a mountain disappear. So how do we open the biding up for competitive bidding when one company owns the source of the materials? This isn't just in one area of our State; many areas always have the same contractors on major State projects.
Yeah, I have no solutions other than considering something like a monopoly? Split the two up?
Yeah, I have no solutions other than considering something like a monopoly? Split the two up?
If I knew the answers; I would not have asked the question. I really do not think there are easy answers. I just wished that we thought more about proficiency and efficiency - sometimes they take back seat around here!
I am still looking for an old link that suggested bonding contractors and also requiring them to warranty their work. I thought that I encountered ideas like that on the NHTSA web site and now I am thinking that it might have been the FHA web and more publications of articles called: "Public Roads". I used to save good links; until my computer died! My new computer is dumb or it's a dummy using it!
Article from August 21, 2013. And that was before Act 89 was signed into law.
By the way, since the passage of Act 89, Pennsylvania no longer has the most structurally deficient bridges of any state in the U.S. in either sheer number or percentage. Funny how that works.
The article is from 5 years ago. Compare the OH turnpike to the PA Turnpike and it's like night and day.
The article is from 5 years ago. Compare the OH turnpike to the PA Turnpike and it's like night and day.
I love your name, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy....lol
anyway, I don't honestly know, what they could be thinking by all their comparisons....this isn't OH, NJ, MD, DE, this is PA, so your comparing apples to oranges.
the point is, there is corruption going on, and nobody cares....or wants to do anything about it.
If you clean up the corruption/crime, everything else falls into place.
there are ways to do things without breaking the bank, but hey, we have to hire all these consultants, to tell us how to do our jobs....pretty lame.
They have to hire consultants, to cover for college kids that went to school to learn how to do these things, and yet, we're paying consultants to tell them what they need to do. Why not fire the college kids and hire the consultants....?
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Oh, isn't that special...and he is going to be running the state of NJ...what about competence, and are these people the best that he could find, if so, perfect, but....? 
Someone who has to brag about something like that, well, lets just say, as woman/minority, I wouldn't be at all proud of working for someone like him. Total incompetence....
