Cops spokesman aligns with Turnpike Commission on lease/concession OPINION

With the Turnpike Commission's leading legislative patron Vince Fumo and the Turnpike chairman's wife about to star as defendants in federal court on scores of corruption indictments, and other leading figures revealed as 'ghost employees' it might be thought that the state cops would avoid taking sides in the Governor versus the Turnpike Commission. But no, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Sheriffs Association is weighing in on the side of the perps!

And weighing in with scaremongering and propaganda.

Carolyn Welsh, first vice-president of the state sheriffs union and sheriff of Chester County in the suburbs of Philadelphia is editorializing in defense of the Turnpike Commission and against the Governor's lease plan. She writes in a local newspaper this morning:

"We need to keep the Pennsylvania Turnpike a public asset dedicated to public safety. Let's not risk our ability to save and protect lives by handing over this major transportation asset to a private company."

In what sense is the Dulles Greenway operated by Autostrade/Macquarie any less of a "public asset" than Virginia DOT's Dulles Toll Road to which it adjoins.

To what extent is the Chicago Skyway operated by Cintra less of an asset to the public than the Tristate Tollway operated by the state's Illinois Tollway?

Or Brisa's Northwest Parkway than E470 operated by the E470 Public Highway Authority in Colorado.

Propagandistic

Ms Welsh's distinction is purely propagandistic.

Welsh suggests the profit motive would lead a private operator to have a lesser commitment to safety than the state owned Turnpike Commission. They would, she claims, "have an incentive to drop the service commitments" (of the PTC) for greater profitability.

But nothing is more disastrous to profits on a tollroad than crashes. They involve disruption of traffic, and often closures of the road and diversion of paying customers to other faciliities, and lost tolls. At a minimum they delay patrons and irritate them. They generate costs in response to control traffic, in cleanup and repairs. And they give the tollroad a poor reputation.

Safety reduces costs and lost revenue. It's good for the bottom line.

Do government owned airlines have a better safety record than private? Soviet state-owned Aeroflot had one of the worst safety records in the world. Safety is good business.


The contract

In any case the terms of the concession for the Pennsylvania Turnpike require the concessionaire to satisfy state authorities with the level of contracted emergency services:

"Article 3 Terms of the Lease"

"3.17 Engagement of Other Emergency Services. The Concessionaire shall (at the Concessionaire’s expense) contract for emergency services on the Turnpike and areas adjacent thereto that are integral to its function. The form and amount of emergency services shall be as agreed between the Concessionaire and the providers of such services in the specific areas of the Commonwealth in which the services are to be provided from time to time but, at a minimum, shall be adequate as determined by the Commonwealth, including the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, for the protection of the public and compliance with all applicable provisions of this Agreement."

Scaremongering

Walsh implies that a private sector operator might somehow obstruct the movement of emergency service personnel. Apart from the lack of motive to do this, and the disastrous effect it would have on the public image of the concessionaire, it would constitute a clear breach of the concession contract:

Emergency access to the Turnpike is addressed in the Concession Agreement under:

"Section 3.18 Police, Fire, Emergency and Public Safety Access Rights. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, at all times during the Term and without notice or compensation to the Concessionaire, any police, fire and emergency services and any other security or emergency personnel, including the armed forces, and any Governmental Authority with jurisdiction over the Turnpike, shall have access to the Turnpike as necessary for emergency management and homeland security purposes, including the prevention of, practice drills for, or response to, a public safety emergency.

"The Concessionaire shall cooperate with police, fire and emergency services and any other security or emergency personnel, including the armed forces, in respect of such emergency management and homeland security purposes. Further, in connection with the declaration of a state of emergency by the Governor pursuant to the Emergency Management Services Code (35 Pa. C.S.A. § 7101 et seq.), the Commonwealth may designate the Turnpike a toll-free public highway to facilitate evacuations or for any other emergency purpose.

"The length and scope of any such emergency declaration shall be governed by 35 Pa. C.S.A. § 7301(c); provided that the Commonwealth, notwithstanding anything contained herein or in 35 Pa. C.S.A. § 7301(c), shall use its reasonable efforts to minimize (i) the duration and scope of any such declaration and (ii) the adverse impact that any such declaration may have on the Turnpike Operations."

TOLLROADSnews 2008-09-04