In areas across the state, public transportation remains a nagging problem. In Pittsburgh, the Allegheny Port Authority has had to raise rates and cut service. In Philadelphia, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) has similar problems.

In comparison, SEPTA faces a $62 million deficit, while the port authority faces a $35 million deficit. However, while both cities face this monumental problem, it in turn has caused problems for the State College area. The Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) is also in need of more funding in order to keep daily operations at its current level of service. CATA could be forced to cut services by the end of February.

However, as the university continues to grow, bringing in new projects and more people, access to adequate public transportation is crucial. CATA buses are already subject to long lines of people, leaving many people standing en route to their various destinations.

While no one will deny that both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia face huge obstacles in making public transportation a more viable option to those traveling in and out of the cities on a daily basis, these efforts should not hurt those living in smaller towns or rural areas.

These people are equally dependent on transportation and face many of the same needs that people living in the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia regions. In Centre County alone, there are about six million riders on mass transit each year. So why should users of CATA suffer because of the economic problems in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia?

Rendell hopes to bail out the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia transportation systems through a transportation bill that broadly funds all public transit systems across the state. But in order for smaller areas to receive the money to fund their public transportation in a timely manner, the issue of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia must be settled first. To keep smaller carriers such as CATA running efficiently, the legislature should cut off Pittsburgh and Philadelphia from the current bill and decide those cities' issues in separate legislation. Smaller areas need money to keep their carriers running, and it is simply unfair to cause the residents of those areas to suffer because of problems on the opposite ends of the state. The legislature and Rendell will ultimately decide the fate of Pennsylvania's public transportation, but they must take into consideration that by waiting to give money to other areas of Pennsylvania until they settle the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia issues, they are harming those who live in smaller towns.

And they might remember that these people vote too.