Senator Scarnati even proposed an alternative plan. Scarnati's plan would rely on cutting $25 million worth of Turnpike "inefficienicies." The plan would also increase tolls and require local governments to pay 20 percent more on mass transit subsidies.
Essentially, Scarnati is relying on his own optimistic assumptions for cutting "inefficiencies" and the tax payers to pick up the rest of the tab at the local level. All that so the Turnpike Commission can remain in tact.
Contrast that with today's Editorial in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette:
Foes of plans to lease and privatize management of 500 miles of the Pennsylvania Turnpike will claim to be unimpressed by the high bid of $12.8 billion...
The bid could produce $1.1 billion in the first 10 years of the lease for roads, bridges and mass transit. That’s money that the state of Pennsylvania and its taxpayers won’t have to come up with to pay for necessary upgrades to the highway system.
Consider those prospects against the possibility of tolls on Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania that are projected to generate $500 million a year....
This proposal – now in the hands of the Legislature – would help Pennsylvania catch up regarding its highway system without doing damage to the fiscal condition of the rest of the state budget and the taxpayers who pay for that budget. Anyone who can’t see that isn’t paying attention or just doesn’t want to deal honestly with the cold, hard numbers.
We call on the region’s representatives in the state House and Senate to lead the support of this proposal.
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