Letter to Secretary Chao on FTA Small Starts Funding for Bus Rapid
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Richard J. Harshman, Chair William S. Demchak, Vice Chair 11 Stanwix Street, 17th Floor Kimberly Tillotson Fleming, Treasurer Venkee Sharma, Secretary PITTSBURGH, PA 15222-1312 Morgan K. O’Brien, Immediate Past Chair Dennis Yablonsky, Chief Executive Officer T: 412.281.4783 David A. Brownlee, At Counsel F: 412.392.4520 Robert O. Agbede Leroy M. Ball, Jr. AlleghenyConference.org John A. Barbour Paul M. Boechler September 4, 2017 Jeff Broadhurst Julie Caponi Helen Hanna Casey Randall S. Dearth The Honorable Elaine Chao Nicholas J. Deluliis Vincent J. Delie, Jr. Secretary J. Christopher Donahue U.S. Department of Transportation Audrey Dunning Laura E. Ellsworth 1200 New Jersey Ave SE John J. Engel Mark Eubanks Washington, DC 20590 Michele Fabrizi Karen Wolk Feinstein Daniel K. Fitzpatrick RE: Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh Downtown- Dawn Fuchs Patrick D. Gallagher Uptown-Oakland-East End Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Project – FY19 William P. Getty Kenneth G. Gormley FTA Small Starts Funding Steven J. Guy Charles L. Hammel, III Paul Hennigan Dear Secretary Chao: David L. Holmberg Christopher B. Howard Michael Huwar Scott D. Izzo The Allegheny Conference on Community Development and its Laura Karet William Lambert Affiliates – the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, the Gerald F. MacCleary Pennsylvania Economy League of Greater Pittsburgh, and the Henry J. Maier David J. Malone Pittsburgh Regional Alliance – work together to improve the economy Michael H. McGarry Linda L. Moss and quality of life in the 10-county Pittsburgh region. On behalf of the Todd C. Moules Robert P. Oeler Allegheny Conference and our member organizations, we write to Grant Oliphant express our full support for the Pittsburgh Downtown-Uptown- Stacey Olson Antonis Papadourakis Oakland-East End Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. We respectfully Richard Riazzi Jeffrey A. Romoff ask for this project to be included in the FTA’s Small Starts program Steven T. Schlotterbeck James R. Segerdahl funding for fiscal year 2019. Susan Baker Shipley George L. Stewart, II Ian K. Stewart Public and private sector leaders across the 10-county Pittsburgh William E. Strickland, Jr. Sunil Wadhwani region have joined together to form the Regional Transportation Lara Washington Alliance of Southwestern Pennsylvania (RTA), a public-private M E M B E R S partnership designed to enhance the region’s transportation network. E M E R I T I Charles E. Bunch Over the past two years, the RTA developed a paradigm shifting set of James E. Lee Martin G. McGuinn transportation development principles, and identified 50 critical Thomas H. O'Brien projects to improve our region’s long-term connectivity.1 This project C.J. Queenan, Jr. James E. Rohr is one of the 50 projects identified as a path to achieving regional Vincent A. Sarni Richard P. Simmons mobility goals. John P. Surma 1 http://www.regionaltransportationalliance.org/ Page 2 ____________________________________________________________________________________ This BRT project will connect two of the top three largest economic centers in Pennsylvania – downtown Pittsburgh and the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, home to Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Additionally, the project will allow for reinvestment and development throughout the corridor. It will provide critical access and connectivity to major employment, health care, education, retail and housing developments. The project is critical to expanding economic opportunities in the region. It should be considered a priority for Small Starts funding. In addition to local support, this project has the support of the Great Lakes region. This project is a top priority for the Great Lakes Metro Chambers Coalition (GLMCC) – an advocacy coalition of 36 metropolitan chambers of commerce across 12 U.S. states in the Great Lakes region. The GLMCC provided the administration with its 2017-18 Infrastructure Priorities, which included this important project.2 On behalf of the Allegheny Conference, we respectfully encourage you to fund this project, as it will improve the quality of life for individuals by increasing connectivity, and will provide significant economic and social benefits throughout the Pittsburgh region. We, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development Board, sincerely request your support for this important project. Dennis Yablonsky Richard J. Harshman Chief Executive Officer Chair, Allegheny Conference on Allegheny Conference on Community Community Development Development Chairman, President and CEO, ATI William S. Demchak Morgan K. O’Brien Chairman, President and CEO President and CEO The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. Peoples Natural Gas Kimberly Tillotson Fleming Venkee Sharma Chairman and CEO President and CEO Hefren-Tillotson, Inc. Aquatech International Corporation Robert O. Agbede Leroy M. Ball Jr. President and CEO President and CEO Hatch Chester Koppers Inc. 2 http://www.greaterpittsburghchamberofcommerce.com/wp- content/uploads/2016/09/GLMCC_Infrastructure_Project_List.pdf Page 3 ____________________________________________________________________________________ John A. Barbour Paul M. Boechler Executive Chairman President and CEO Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC American Bridge Company Jeff Broadhurst Julie Caponi President and CEO Assistant Treasurer Eat'n Park Hospitality Group, Inc. Arconic Inc. Helen Hanna Casey Randall S. Dearth President President and CEO Howard Hanna Real Estate Services Calgon Carbon Corporation Nicholas J. DeIuliis Vincent J. Delie Jr. Chief Executive Officer President and CEO CONSOL Energy Inc. F.N.B. Corporation J. Christopher Donahue Audrey Dunning President and CEO Chief Executive Officer Federated Investors, Inc. Summa Technologies, Inc. Laura E. Ellsworth Partner-In-Charge of Global Community John J. Engel Service Initiatives Chairman Jones Day WESCO International, Inc. Mark Eubanks Michele Fabrizi President President and CEO Eaton MARC USA Karen Wolk Feinstein Daniel K. Fitzpatrick President President and CEO Jewish Healthcare Foundation Citizens Bank of PA / NY / NJ / DE Dawn Fuchs Patrick D. Gallagher President and CEO Chancellor The Weavertown Environmental Group University of Pittsburgh Kenneth G. Gormley Steven J. Guy President President and CEO Duquesne University Oxford Development Company Charles L. Hammel III Paul Hennigan President President PITT OHIO Point Park University Page 4 ____________________________________________________________________________________ David L. Holmberg Christopher B. Howard President and CEO President Highmark Health Robert Morris University Michael Huwar Scott D. Izzo President Director Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, Inc. Richard King Mellon Foundation Laura Karet William Lambert Chief Executive Officer President and CEO Giant Eagle, Inc. MSA Safety, Inc. Gerald F. MacCleary Henry J. Maier President President and CEO Covestro LLC FedEx Ground David J. Malone Michael H. McGarry President and CEO Chairman and CEO Gateway Financial Group, Inc PPG Linda L. Moss Todd C. Moules Regional President President FirstEnergy Corporation KeyBank Robert P. Oeler Grant Oliphant Chairman President Dollar Bank, FSB The Heinz Endowments Stacey Olson Antonis Papadourakis President - Chevron Appalachia, LLC President and CEO Chevron LANXESS Corporation Richard Riazzi Jeffrey A. Romoff President and CEO President Duquesne Light Company UPMC Steven T. Schlotterbeck James R. Segerdahl Chief Executive Officer Global Managing Partner EQT Corporation K&L Gates LLP Susan Baker Shipley George L. Stewart II Regional President Partner The Huntington National Bank Reed Smith LLP Page 5 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Ian K. Stewart Chairman of BNY Mellon PA,Executive VP, William E. Strickland Jr. CEO Treasury Services President and CEO BNY Mellon Manchester Bidwell Corporation Sunil Wadhwani Managing Partner Lara Washington Sunil and Nita Wadhwani Family Foundation President AHRCO .