Pittsburgh, Pa. − October 7, 2024 − Senator Lindsey M. Williams joins advocates in calling for a major investment in multimodal transportation options across Pennsylvania. “With only seven voting days left on the Senate Session calendar, I urge my Senate colleagues to take up the serious work of funding multimodal transportation, including roads, bridges, public transit, pedestrian infrastructure, and parking protected bike lanes. Lives and livelihoods depend on it.”
Transportation is critical for a full, well-rounded life – for work, recreation, shopping, medical appointments, and daily needs. But for the 30% of Pennsylvanians who don’t drive, the lack of robust public transportation is a barrier to all of these things. Ensuring that we share the roads safely becomes increasingly important for everyone as more and more Pennsylvanians are getting outdoors to walk, hike, and bike for exercise and for fun.
“Investing in multimodal transportation transit boosts economic growth, reduces auto emissions, and helps reduce traffic congestion along our roadways,” said Senator Williams. “You shouldn’t need to own a car to get to your job or to meet your basic needs. Public transit should be readily available, sidewalks should be safe and accessible for all, and our roads should be built for people, not just for vehicles.”
Today, Senator Williams participated in a rally with Families for Safe Streets, Bike Pittsburgh, and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia in support of HB 1283, which would permit parking protected bike lanes. This legislation passed the House last June and has been awaiting action in the Senate Transportation Committee since then. Full video of today’s rally is available here.
Over the last few weeks, the Senate Transportation Committee held hearings on multimodal transportation and mass transit needs across the state. Despite being billed as “multimodal transportation hearings,” very little of the testimony focused on multimodal infrastructure outside of public transit. There was almost no talk about investing in “complete streets,” which makes communities accessible, safer, and more inclusive by updating curb cuts, sidewalks, and traffic signals. “I walked a dangerous intersection in my district alongside the family of a disabled constituent and almost got hit by a car myself as I experienced what his daily life is like,” said Senator Williams. “And devastatingly, I’ve had constituents killed while walking and biking on unsafe, poorly designed roads.”
Pittsburghers joined in the Week Without Driving last week, a nation-wide campaign created to urge drivers to use alternate forms of transportation and learn firsthand about the barriers and dangers that non-drivers face on a daily basis. “Whether we live in rural communities, small towns or big cities, all Pennsylvanians deserve safe, reliable, dignified access to the places we need to go,” said Laura Chu Wiens, Executive Director of Pittsburghers for Public Transit. “Bus lines are lifelines for millions of Pennsylvanians, and so are the sidewalks and crosswalks that get us there. Our elected leaders have a huge role to play in investing in the service that keeps us moving, and the infrastructure that keeps us safe.”
Public transit serves a huge ridership, despite receiving significantly less funding and less attention than other transportation infrastructure needs. During the I-95 collapse earlier this year, all levels of government came together swiftly to rebuild and reopen the stretch of road, citing the large number of daily travelers. However, before the onset of the pandemic, the Market-Frankford Line (the “L”) in Philadelphia alone carried more daily passengers than I-95, yet that system has not received anywhere near the amount of attention, funding, or urgency from any level of government.
Currently, PRT is undergoing a system redesign to better meet the needs of its modern ridership. To ensure that this redesign meets the needs of the entire community, PRT is holding in-person pop-up meetings at locations across Allegheny County throughout October and an online public meeting on October 24th at 6:00 pm to receive input on the new plan. Review the plan, leave feedback, check out pop-up meeting locations, or register for the online meeting at BusLineRedesign.com.
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