Dear KTFC Members & Friends:
As if we needed yet another example of coronavirus havoc, this week we received word that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has pushed the REAL ID deadline to May, 2023.
The department cited the pandemic as the reason, explaining that states had been hampered in their ability to issue the IDs. Only 43 percent of state-issued driver’s licenses and IDs are currently REAL ID-compliant.
Here at home, PennDOT said recently it had issued more than 1 million REAL ID products. We will have until 2023 before we need to show a DHS-compliant ID to board a plane or enter a federal building or military base. The pandemic caused the original deadline to be pushed back to Oct. 1 of this year
TRANSPORTATION ISSUE UPDATE
- The coronavirus pandemic caused the Department of Homeland Security to push the REAL ID deadline back once again.
- The PA Senate this week approved and sent to the House a bill that would block PennDOT’s plan to rebuild or replace nine bridges around the state by imposing tolls on them, utilizing a public-private partnership.
- Rep. Rosemary Brown, R- Monroe and Pike counties, penned an op-ed article promoting her proposal targeting distracted driving. The bill would mandate hands-free cell phone use while driving.
- WITF’s Smart Talk tackled the infrastructure topic following the release of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2021 report card (surprisingly, Pennsylvania’s marks are improved, but still a long way to go).
- SEPTA has proposed a $1.52 billion operating budget for FY 2022, allowing for increased service without fare hikes.
- PennDOT officials said they’ve issued more than 20,000 citations on one stretch of I-79 near the southern beltway project thanks to the new automated speed enforcement technology.
- Traffic fatalities in 2020 ticked up despite a significant decrease in driving, but were still the second-lowest on record.
- Gov. Tom Wolf has announced that 43 highway, bridge, rail, and bike and pedestrian projects in 21 counties were selected for $45.9 million in funding through the Multimodal Transportation Fund.