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(January 2005) Over two-thirds of Pennsylvanians polled favor action by the state legislature to provide new funding for the state’s local mass transit systems. In total, 69% of Pennsylvanians strongly favor or somewhat favor providing new funds to help local mass transit. Support is highest in Southeastern PA (76%) and Southwestern PA (71%) – but remains above 60% in other parts of the state.

The results of this study of public opinion follows the announcement of a $19 million temporary relief package for the state’s major mass transit systems and comes on the heels of Governor Rendell’s call for a special session later this month to focus on mass transit funding. 

Support falls off dramatically when people are presented with specific options to provide the funding. Least popular options are creating a new state tax (25% favor) and increasing current transportation taxes and fees such as auto registration and licensing (32%). Other potential funding options garner more support, but still less than 50%:

• Shifting some funds from the existing state sales tax (41%),

•  Giving county governments the authority to create new local taxes (46%), and

   

   

• Shifting some portion of the state gasoline tax to help local transit agencies (45%).

   

   

The IssuesPA/Pew Benchmark Poll is part of a series of public opinion surveys on key issues facing the Commonwealth. The poll of 1,500 Pennsylvanians was conducted between December 2 and December 15 has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

“As the legislature and Governor take on this complicated issue, it’s important to recognize that support for mass transit is strong statewide -- whether to get people to jobs, protect open space, or ease traffic congestion, ” said Karen Miller, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Economy League’s State Office and Managing Director of IssuesPA. “Finding a solution that the people can support will be a challenge.” 

“In talking with Pennsylvanian residents, we found that the various funding options face significant opposition across the state. There’s no consensus on any one method of paying for mass transit – and no notable geographic differences,” said Larry Hugick, Chairman of Princeton Survey Research Associates International, who conducted the IssuesPA/Pew Poll.

Additional results of the poll will be available beginning January 11, 2005. For a complete analysis of the IssuesPA/Pew Poll and detailed results, go to www.IssuesPA.net/polls

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About the Poll: The 2004 IssuesPA/Pew Benchmark Poll, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Economy League and The Pew Charitable Trusts, obtained telephone interviews with a representative sample of 1,520 adults living in Pennsylvania telephone households. The interviews were conducted in English by Princeton Data Source, LLC from December 2 to December 15. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is ±3%.

About IssuesPA: IssuesPA (www.IssuesPA.net) is a nonpartisan statewide awareness project focused exclusively on raising the issues most critical to Pennsylvania’s economic future. The Pennsylvania Economy League initially launched IssuesPA to promote issue awareness around the 2002 gubernatorial election. Post-election, the project has been transformed into the leading resource on state-level issues and policies in Pennsylvania, coupled with a dynamic, multi-media outreach strategy. IssuesPA is funded in part by The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Pittsburgh Foundation and The William Penn Foundation.

About The Pennsylvania Economy League: The Pennsylvania Economy League (PEL) is an independent, nonprofit public policy research organization. PEL is a force for positive change -- the state’s leading regionally based, statewide public policy organization. Working with Pennsylvania’s public and private sectors, PEL provides independent research and insight on emerging issues to stimulate public and private action to make Pennsylvania a better place to live, work, and do business. PEL’s goal is to create a knowledgeable corporate and civic audience that will ensure the Commonwealth’s economic competitiveness.

About The Pew Charitable Trusts: The Pew Charitable Trusts (www.pewtrusts.org) serves the public interest by providing information, policy solutions and support for civic life. Based in Philadelphia, with an office in Washington, D.C., the Trusts make investments to provide organizations and citizens with fact-based research and practical solutions for challenging issues. With approximately $4.1 billion in dedicated assets, in 2003 the Trusts committed more than $143 million to 151 nonprofit organizations.