Roadwork in PA Paves The Way For EV Vehicles

WEST CHESTER —Orange cones on the highways are good news for motorists.

The cones are a sign that necessary upgrades are in the works on Pennsylvania’s dilapidated infrastructure.

At the same time, auto dealerships, engineers and government officials are working to ensure electric vehicles become more affordable and charging stations are more abundant.

“Orange cones are good news,” U.S. Rep Chrissy Houlahan, a Chester County Democrat representing the Sixth District, said Thursday night. "They mean that projects are in the works and shovel ready.”

Transportation officials said the goal is to have the road ready for the influx of electric vehicles, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Houlahan said she drives an electric vehicle, carefully mapping out her ride to ensure her battery is charged.

Gas prices on the rise

With gas prices continuing to increase, officials said, now it is the time to ramp up the transition to electric vehicles, officials said.

Gas prices are at $4.34 per gallon this morning in Pennsylvania, up from $3.72 a month ago, according to AAA.

Stare. Rep, Christina Sappy, a Chester County Democrat, hosted a virtual meeting featuring experts proving the state of transportation in Pennsylvania and Chester County.

Sappy said Pennsylvania is an enormous state in which transportation is a necessity for economic development.

“We need a good economy for all of Pennsylvania,” she said. “There are industries that are looking to come to Pennsylvania right now, but they are sitting on the fence because we don’t have a really great way for getting around.”

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

Houlahan said transportation everyone, everyday in Pennsylvania.
The lawmaker noted that Pennsylvania is number nine in the county for the most bridges.
“We have 23,000 bridges,” she said. “Sadly, years of under investment have left these bridges in poor condition.”

She said the Civil Society of Civil Engineers has graded Pennyslvania a C- for bridges.

Houlahan reported that the federal government’s Infrastructure Bipartisan Act is finally getting the money out to the states.
The breakdown of funding for Pennsylvania. It’s spread out over five years and requires the applications to receive it.

• $11.3 Billion for High federal aid
• $1.6 Billion for bridge repair
• $2.8 Billion for transportation
• $1.4 Billion for water
• $171Billion for electric vehicles
• $100 Billion for broadband

Houlahan said she secured an additional $600,000 for electric vehicle charges in Pennsylania through a community funding process.

Electric Vehicles

Melissa Batula, executive deputy secretary of PennDOT, said the state is on the forefront of reinventing transportation with the introduction of vehicle automation. Some vehicles already have part of it with lane automation.

The state has been testing automated vehicles for 11 years with the hope the automation will reduce fatal crashes.

In 2020, there were 1,129 deaths on the roadways in Pennsylvania, and one life lost is just too many lost deaths.

Batula said more motorists are buying electric vehicles.

She said in March of 2019 there were 9,700 electric vehicle drivers in Pennsylvania. This year, there are 23,000.

She said auto dealers are allocating $225 billion in developing new vehicles.

PennDOT is getting ready for a statewide plan to make sure there are enough chargers.

With the $171 billion allocated to electric vehicles, the plan is to install electric charging stations every 50 miles on interstate highways and one mile from the entrances and exits of the highways.

Batula said PennDOT use of electric vehicles will reduce the gas consumption.

Batula said that PennDOT will need to invest $930,000 in the electric vehicle project to receive the federal funds.

Batula said the transition is challenging because PennDOT relies on the money from gas taxes to fund roadwork.

About 74 percent of the funding for road and bridge repair comes from a gas tax. For every gallon of gas, there is a 57.6 cent tax to PennDOT and an 18.5 cent tax to the federal government.

Batula noted that people will be driving less so there will be less money for road repair.

She said PennDOT is looking at a mile-base road user fee or road user fee as a possible way to obtain funding.

Tim Phelps, executive director of transportation of transportation management association of Chester County, said that Chester County has an electric vehicle infrastructure in place.

Communities can start to look at what infrastructure is necessary for EV stations. He said parking lots are good spaces to put EV stations.

The EV will save consumers a lot of money in gas, he said.

Phelps said that the federal funding will be a big help in improving the safety of the roads.