PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 3061 PRINTER'S NO. 3454
No. 2211 Session of 1984
INTRODUCED BY TRELLO, POTT, STEVENS, PETRONE, DeLUCA, GRUPPO,
HALUSKA, BELFANTI, STEIGHNER, PRESTON, CIVERA, COLAFELLA,
JOHNSON, BELOFF, BOOK, TELEK AND VAN HORNE, MAY 29, 1984
AS REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
AS AMENDED, SEPTEMBER 17, 1984
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
26 governments, limiting actions against the authority and
27 exempting it from taxation, authorizing counties and
28 municipalities to enter into compacts for the financing of
29 each authority and to make appropriations in accordance with
30 such compacts, creating a citizen advisory committee,
31 conferring exclusive jurisdiction upon certain courts with
32 respect to matters relating to such authority, empowering
1 each authority to function outside of the metropolitan area
2 under certain terms and conditions," further providing for
3 grants for transportation.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. The definition of "county transportation system"
7 in section 202 of the act of January 22, 1968 (P.L.42, No.8),
8 known as the Pennsylvania Urban Mass Transportation Law, added
9 July 10, 1980 (P.L.427, No.101), is amended and a definition is
10 added to read:
11 Section 202. Definitions.--The following terms, whenever
12 used or referred to in this article, shall have the following
13 meanings, except in those instances where the context clearly
14 indicates a different meaning:
15 * * *
16 "County transportation system" shall mean and include buses,
17 vans or other transit vehicles purchased, maintained and
18 operated by any county and used to provide free or reduced rate
19 transportation within the county to persons sixty-five years of
20 age or older and persons ages sixty to sixty-four who are
21 unemployed.
22 * * *
23 "Unemployed" shall mean persons eligible for unemployment
24 compensation benefits under the act of December 5, 1936 (2nd
25 Sp.Sess., 1937 P.L.2897, No.1), known as the Unemployment
26 Compensation Law, except that persons who were determined
27 ineligible because of pension offset provisions of the law shall
28 also be considered unemployed DURING THE PERIOD THEY WOULD HAVE <--
29 RECEIVED BENEFITS.
30 * * *
31 Section 2. Section 203(5)(i), (ii) and (iii) of the act,
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1 added July 10, 1980 (P.L.427, No.101), are amended to read:
2 Section 203. Program Authorizations.--The department is
3 hereby authorized, within the limitations hereinafter provided
4 and is required where the provisions of section 204 apply:
5 * * *
6 (5) To make grants from the State Lottery Fund to
7 transportation companies, county transportation systems and
8 local transportation organizations to pay estimated transit
9 losses resulting from providing:
10 (i) Free service or local common carrier mass transportation
11 systems to persons sixty-five years or older and persons sixty
12 to sixty-four years who are unemployed when such passage is on
13 fixed route public transportation services during nonpeak riding
14 hours and on holidays and weekends. The losses resulting from
15 granting service on mass transportation systems shall be
16 reimbursable at seventy-five percent of such system's average
17 fare multiplied by the number of trips made by senior citizens
18 participating in such free transit program. Transit systems that
19 currently receive a program reimbursement based upon a
20 percentage of average fare greater than seventy-five percent
21 shall receive their current amount of senior citizen program
22 reimbursement until such time as the amount of reimbursement for
23 these systems equals seventy-five percent of the average fare
24 times the number of senior citizens trips: Provided, however,
25 That reimbursement for the fiscal year 1980-1981 shall be
26 calculated using the average fares as of January 1, 1980.
27 (ii) Free or reduced fare on shared ride county
28 transportation systems for persons sixty-five years or older and
29 persons sixty to sixty-four years who are unemployed:
30 (A) In case of free service on such county systems, the
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1 county shall be reimbursed at seventy-five percent of the cost
2 incurred or to be incurred in operating and maintaining such
3 system, with the remainder of any such cost being paid by the
4 county.
5 (B) In case of reduced fare services on such county systems,
6 the county shall be reimbursed at the same rate and under the
7 same conditions as provided in subparagraph (iii).
8 (iii) Reduced fare services on local common carrier mass
9 transportation systems to persons sixty-five years of age or
10 older and persons sixty to sixty-four years who are unemployed
11 when such passage is on shared ride public or contract
12 transportation services during regular hours of operation. On
13 shared public transportation, losses are reimbursable only if
14 the elderly person pays 25¢ or twenty-five percent of the cost
15 of the individual fare, whichever is greater.
16 * * *
17 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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