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Motion Expressing the Sense of Council of Allegheny County, directing the Council's Special Committee on Transportation to evaluate proposals for restructuring public transportation in Allegheny County and/or Western Pennsylvania and, if possible, to formulate a request to the General Assembly to allow such restructuring.
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WHEREAS, in 1963, Pittsburgh Railways was the largest streetcar system remaining in the nation, and was providing service while realizing a profit, thus demonstrating that light rail transit has at least historically proven to be a viable option for public transportation in Western Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, since its formation, the Port Authority of Allegheny County has eschewed light rail transit options in favor of technologies such as Skybus and Maglev, neither of which has come to fruition in the forty years in which the Port Authority has existed; and
WHEREAS, some large cities have determined that light rail and bus service are both necessary to provide quality public transportation at a reasonable cost to their residents, but that bus and light rail systems are fundamentally different, and have thus opted to create separate managing entities for bus and light rail service; and
WHEREAS, other large cities have determined that public-private partnerships present the greatest potential for flexibility, providing quality service, and operating public transit efficiently; and
WHEREAS, dedicated funding for public transit has been secured in some states through mechanisms that differ from those mechanisms available in Allegheny County; and
WHEREAS, all of these factors suggest that other jurisdictions have identified other means of funding and/or operating their public transportation systems that may also be viable alternatives that should be examined in Western Pennsylvania, and County residents have requested that Council review these alternatives; and
WHEREAS, the Chief Executive's Transportation Action Team has...
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