Talk to the Transportation Secretary

Friday, 06 May 2011 13:50

Talk to the Transportation Secretary

Written by Scott LaMar, Director of Radio Smart Talk

Radio Smart Talk for Monday, May 9:

From time to time, we like to offer you an opportunity to speak with some of our leaders, both elected and appointed.

On Monday, we'll afford you just such a chance, as we welcome Barry Schoch, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Any and all questions related to transportation in the Commonwealth will be welcomed.

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# mustafa idriss 2011-05-08 19:01

thanks witf and smart talk, I have this question, I bought an old car on 3/12/11 the same day i notrized it and payed the my sales tax using my personal chek, the next day I found some thing on the and I want to return the car to the saler wich he agree but the paper work and tax money has been send to penndot, every then I got stuck with car not able to get any help from penndot when I call or went over there to do so, please please tell me what should do in this situation, thanks,
mustafa idriss
steelton pa

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# Jeremy 2011-05-09 09:58

Is anyone looking at the roads in the Northern Tier of the state? If you cross over from New York into Pa the difference is uncanny. Locals attribute this almost entirely to the lack of runoff management.

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# Jason 2011-05-09 12:05

Why do people treat highways like they are free? We pay for electric, gas, etc as utilities. Why not our highway user fees as well?

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# Elizabeth 2011-05-09 12:05

Will we ever have a direct train to New york City & DC? Please please please

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# Steven 2011-05-09 12:06

On a trip over the Easter holiday, on I-81 north of Frackville, we were very hit by a dense fog and a sudden two lane stoppage on the highway. A state police officer driving along the shoulder towards traffic with lights flashing and car horn blasting was our only warning. Behind us, tires were screeching and car were driving off the road to avoid crashing into the vehicles stopped on the highway.

Eventually, we reached the point on the road that was creating the hazard, one mile long abandoned road work site. Although it was intensely foggy, I don't recall any warning signs.

Since our infrastructure is so critical to our safety and security, shouldn't road work be done 24 hours and day, seven days a week, rather than abandon sights for time off.

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# Steven Boldt 2011-05-09 12:07

I represent the American Council of Engineering Companies of PA. As you may know we are conducting our Annual Legislative Day on the Hill tomorrow- in concert with ASCE, ASHE, the Engineers Club of Philadelphia and the Keystone Transportation Funding Coalition—

Mr. Secretary:

1. If you had one message you wanted us to send to the General Assembly, what would it be ?
2. How do make infrastructure be seen by the Public, the Legislature as a long term investment in our economic health?
3. we fully support the work being done by the TFAC to collectively solve the funding crisis

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# Linda 2011-05-09 12:08

I was told Route 81 from Carlisle to Newville was scheduled to have a third lane put in this area by 2010; but was postponed because of funding. When accidents occur on Rt 81, it causes trucks to travel into the downtown area of Carlisle creating congestion and pollution from the trucks in a horrible way.

With the new road diet on Hanover Street and High Street bringing it to one lane of traffic; what is your plan to put another lane onto Rt 81 to keep the truck traffic there?

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# Thomas 2011-05-09 12:09

i have one question and a comment. my question is, i am a shareholder in norfolk southern corp, one of the largest railroads that serve the commonwealth, i also am very pro passenger rail/mass transit....my question is why are the host railroads such as norfolk southern not compensated in a way that the host railroads make a fair return on assets? usually it seems that eventually they do but there is a long time before there is an agreement on this. also AMTRAK only pays a fee on train miles carried as well as a bonus if the trains run on time.

also does the public realize that high speed rail in this country is way different then say in europe or china, there the track is totally dedicated to passenger trains not shared by freight or local passenger trains. the max. speed on shared rails is around 80mph. in this country outside of the northeast corridor.

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# Matt 2011-05-09 12:10

I have attended your commission meetings and applaud you for honestly discussing this immense challenge. While the conversation centers on funding, I rarely hear discussion on how we prioritize NEW roads and development. If we can't afford what we have, why do we continue to build new roads or allow developers to build new roads that are turned over to public management in perpetuity?

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