PMTA submits Amicus Brief in Bridge Tolling Lawsuit
On February 15, the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, with the help of legal counsel Saxton and Stump, submitted an Amicus Curiae Brief in the lawsuit South Fayette Township, Bridgeville Borough, and Collier Township v. PennDOT, Public Private Transportation Partnership Board (P3 Board) and Secretary Yassmin Gramian, P.E..
The case brought by the three townships against PennDOT and the P3 Board follows their decision to toll nine bridges across the Commonwealth including the I-79 bridge in Bridgeville, just south of Pittsburgh. The suit alleges that the state did not follow its own procedures in approving the plans to move forward the bridge projects and with bridge tolling.
The brief outlines PMTA's interest in the case and presents the arguments of the negative impact of tolling on our industry, the ineffectiveness of tolling as a revenue generator, the greater issues of prioritizing expenditures of transportation funding and the General Assembly's authority to appropriate and how it has rejected the Major Bridge P3 initiative.
The case was filed on November 11, 2021. Berks County, which is home to the the I-79 Lenhartsville Bridge which PennDOT also plans to toll in this project, has also submitted an Amicus Curiae Brief in this case.