GOP’s Transit Fight Intensifies PA’s Urban-Rural Political Divide

Republicans in Pennsylvania are attacking transit in the commonwealth's largest cities and fueling a regional divide that is much stronger and more potent than we have seen in recent memory in the commonwealth. I wrote in Real Clear Politics about the potential consequences of Republicans' brinksmanship on transit and the future of Pennsylvania politics if Democrats take the same approach.

Republicans would seemingly rather take money away from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh than fund programs or projects in their districts. It’s a counteractive approach that only impedes rural revival.

For decades, lawmakers viewed the success of one region of the Commonwealth as success for all of Pennsylvania. Lawmakers were willing to give a win to other regions, knowing that they would benefit from reciprocal generosity. 

But the agreement has frayed. 

Rural areas have stagnated and declined, and rural constituents and lawmakers have errantly blamed cities – not corporate and federal disinvestment and failed federal policies – for their decline. Instead of looking for ways to grow rural areas, Republican lawmakers have focused their energy on punishing their urban counterparts. 

And now we could see a policy horseshoe. The next idea that both parties could agree on is that the other deserves punishment and disinvestment. Urban constituents and Democrats are livid at Republicans’ treatment of public transit systems that drive their economies and sustain their way of life. 

If the transit crisis is not resolved amicably and soon, urban and suburban voters impacted will have a chance to speak up, and we could see an equal effort against rural regions. 

Why are we paying for rural roads when they won’t help fund our trains? 

Why are we paying for rural police coverage when our trains are idle and our businesses suffer?

Democrats might see primaries from aggrieved insurgents who capture attention and focus blame on rural legislators and their constituents. And the agreement to run Pennsylvania as a patchwork commonwealth of shared interests for statewide prosperity could further erode.  

We want to repair the frayed agreements between rural and urban legislators and constituents, and the behavior of Republican lawmakers is making it more likely that there will be an even larger fracture between our regions and parties.