With gas prices on the rise and laid-off workers looking farther from home for new jobs, is it time for mass transit?
That’s a question that might not be answered anytime soon, but the state Legislature is taking a step in that direction.
A new legislative study committee with members from Rock County soon will begin looking at a way to unite local governments to create transportation options.
Sen. Judy Robson, D-Beloit, is the committee’s vice chairwoman. Members include Larry Arft, Beloit city manager, and Richard Johnson of Janesville, an advocate for the visually handicapped.
The committee has 22 members from across the state. Its chairman is Rep. Alvin Ott, R-Forest Junction.
Arft and Robson served on the South Central Wisconsin Commuter Transportation Study, which looked at the possibility of commuter rail links connecting Chicago transit systems to various Rock County communities and Madison.
But the legislative study committee will not be limited to rail, said Helen Marks Dicks, a Robson aide who will staff the committee.
Bus transportation is a hot topic these days as people consider commuting to jobs farther from home, Dicks said.
The Special Committee on Regional Transportation Authority is charged with recommending ways to regulate how cities, villages and towns could join to form regional transportation authorities.
Dicks said the committee will begin meeting in August and should have its recommendations ready by year’s end. Any legislation arising from the effort likely would be taken up in the legislative session that starts in January.
The committee is supposed to consider:
-- How a regional transportation authority would be created.
-- What kinds of funding mechanisms would be allowed.
-- How representation would be determined.
-- The types of transportation services a regional transportation authority could be authorized to administer.
Yes, taxing authority is one of the possibilities for the regional transortation authorities, Dicks said.
“We need affordable, convenient transportation systems to connect people with jobs,” Robson said in a news release. “Gasoline is not cheap, and neither is building and maintaining highways.
“Regional Transportation Authorities will be able to plan for and build the transportation systems that are right for their communities.”
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Meeting minutes of the Special Committee on Regional Transportation Authority will be posted at www.legis.state.wi.us/lc/committees/study/2008/RTA/index.htm.