PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 1546 PRINTER'S NO. 1892
No. 1309 Session of 1983
INTRODUCED BY WACHOB, BARBER, HOEFFEL, BELOFF, IRVIS, MILLER,
McCALL, KASUNIC, TRUMAN, HARPER, MANDERINO, FATTAH, WIGGINS,
ITKIN, RICHARDSON, STUBAN, OLIVER, DeLUCA, PISTELLA, COHEN,
STEIGHNER, RUDY, SEVENTY, ALDERETTE, MICHLOVIC, F. E. TAYLOR,
E. Z. TAYLOR, ANGSTADT, ZWIKL, SALOOM, MICOZZIE, JOHNSON,
LASHINGER, FISCHER, J. L. WRIGHT, MORRIS, HALUSKA, FREEMAN,
PRESTON, MAIALE, CALTAGIRONE, CLARK, COLE, BELFANTI,
KUKOVICH, GALLAGHER, JAROLIN, RYBAK, KOSINSKI, CIMINI,
MRKONIC, CIVERA, DOMBROWSKI, DAWIDA, SWEET, PRATT, BOOK,
ARTY, BUNT, R. C. WRIGHT AND OLASZ, JUNE 29, 1983
AS RE-REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS, HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES, AS AMENDED, OCTOBER 5, 1983
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of January 22, 1968 (P.L.42, No.8), entitled,
2 as amended, "An act empowering and authorizing the Department
3 of Transportation to establish and administer certain grant
4 programs for the betterment of mass transportation systems
5 and facilities throughout the Commonwealth; providing for
6 State grants to transportation companies, municipalities,
7 counties, or their instrumentalities and to agencies and
8 instrumentalities of the Commonwealth for studies, research,
9 demonstration programs, promotion programs, purchase of
10 service projects, and capital improvement projects under
11 certain conditions; authorizing grants by counties or
12 municipalities in metropolitan areas to local transportation
13 organizations, authorizing the creation of a transportation
14 authority to function in each metropolitan area consisting of
15 any county of the first class and all nearby counties within
16 a radius of twenty miles of any such first class county, as a
17 body corporate and politic for the purpose of establishing an
18 integrated mass transportation system with all pertinent
19 powers including, but not limited to, leasing, acquiring,
20 owning, operating and maintaining a system for, or otherwise
21 providing for, the transportation of persons, authorizing the
22 borrowing of money and issuance of bonds therefor, conferring
23 the right of eminent domain on the authority; altering the
24 jurisdiction of the Public Utility Commission, authorizing
25 the acceptance of grants from Federal, State and local
1 governments, limiting actions against the authority and
2 exempting it from taxation, authorizing counties and
3 municipalities to enter into compacts for the financing of
4 each authority and to make appropriations in accordance with
5 such compacts, creating a citizen advisory committee,
6 conferring exclusive jurisdiction upon certain courts with
7 respect to matters relating to such authority, empowering
8 each authority to function outside of the metropolitan area
9 under certain terms and conditions," providing free fare
10 services for persons 65 years of age or older for shared ride
11 public transportation services; and reimbursing mass
12 transportation and county transportation systems at 100% 90% <--
13 of the costs of services provided to persons 65 years of age
14 or older.
15 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
16 hereby enacts as follows:
17 Section 1. The definition of "shared ride public
18 transportation services" in section 202 the act of January 22,
19 1968 (P.L.42, No.8), known as the Pennsylvania Urban Mass
20 Transportation Law, added July 10, 1980 (P.L.427, No.101), is
21 amended to read:
22 Section 202. Definitions.--The following terms, whenever
23 used or referred to in this article, shall have the following
24 meanings, except in those instances where the context clearly
25 indicates a different meaning:
26 * * *
27 "Shared ride public transportation services" shall include
28 demand responsive transportation that is available to the
29 general public, operates on a nonfixed route basis and charges a
30 fare to all riders except for persons sixty-five years of age or
31 older. For transportation to be included in this definition the
32 first fare paying passengers to enter the public transportation
33 vehicle must not refuse to share the vehicle with other
34 passengers during a given trip. Services excluded under this
35 definition are: exclusive ride taxi service; charter and
36 sightseeing services; nonpublic transportation; school bus or
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1 limousine services.
2 * * *
3 Section 2. Section 203(5) of the act, added January 22, 1968
4 (P.L.42, No.8) and repealed in part March 10, 1982 (P.L.177,
5 No.56), is amended to read:
6 Section 203. Program Authorizations.--The department is
7 hereby authorized, within the limitations hereinafter provided
8 and is required where the provisions of section 204 apply:
9 * * *
10 (5) To make grants from the State Lottery Fund to
11 transportation companies, county transportation systems and
12 local transportation organizations to pay estimated transit
13 losses resulting from providing:
14 (i) Free service or local common carrier mass transportation
15 systems to persons sixty-five years of age or older when such
16 passage is on fixed route public transportation services during
17 nonpeak riding hours and on holidays and weekends. The losses
18 resulting from granting service on mass transportation systems
19 shall be reimbursable at [seventy-five] one hundred NINETY <--
20 percent of such system's average fare multiplied by the number
21 of trips made by senior citizens participating in such free
22 transit program. [Transit systems that currently receive a
23 program reimbursement based upon a percentage of average fare
24 greater than seventy-five percent shall receive their current
25 amount of senior citizen program reimbursement until such time
26 as the amount of reimbursement for these systems equals seventy-
27 five percent of the average fare times the number of senior
28 citizens trips: Provided, however, That reimbursement for the
29 fiscal year 1980-1981 shall be calculated using the average
30 fares as of January 1, 1980.]
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1 (ii) Free [or reduced] fare on shared ride county <--
2 transportation systems for persons sixty-five years of age or
3 older:
4 (A) In case of free service on such county systems, the
5 county shall be reimbursed at [seventy-five] one hundred NINETY <--
6 percent of the cost incurred or to be incurred in operating and
7 maintaining such system, with the remainder of any such cost
8 being paid by the county.
9 (B) In case of reduced fare services on such county systems,
10 the county shall be reimbursed at the same rate and under the
11 same conditions as provided in subparagraph (iii).
12 (iii) [Reduced fare] Free services on local common carrier <--
13 mass transportation systems to persons sixty-five years of age
14 or older when such passage is on shared ride public or contract
15 transportation services during regular hours of operation. On
16 shared public transportation, losses are reimbursable [only if <--
17 the elderly person pays 25¢ or [twenty-five] TEN percent of the <--
18 cost of the individual fare, whichever is greater]. <--
19 (v) The department shall promulgate such rules and
20 regulations as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this
21 subparagraph. THE DEPARTMENT IN CONSULTATION WITH THE PUBLIC <--
22 UTILITY COMMISSION AND THE DEPARTMENT OF AGING SHALL ESTABLISH
23 REASONABLE PER MILE OR TRIP FARE LIMITS FOR PURPOSES OF THIS
24 SECTION. In accordance with section 2203-A(27) of the act of
25 April 9, 1929 (P.L.177, No.175), known as "The Administrative
26 Code of 1929," no such regulation shall take effect until they
27 are submitted to the Department of Aging for comment.
28 * * *
29 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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