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PennDOT

2021 Annual Report

Photo Credit: Southern York County Drone Photography (sycdrone.com)

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Headshot of Governor Tom Wolf
Tom Wolf
Governor
Headshot of Yassmin Gramian
Yassmin Gramian, P.E.
Secretary of Transportation

OUR VISION

An enhanced quality of life built on transportation excellence.

OUR MISSION

Enhance, connect and add value to our communities by providing a sustainable, equitable transportation system and quality services for all.

OUR VALUES

Enhance, connect and add value to our communities by providing a sustainable, equitable transportation system and quality services for all.

Yassmin Gramian, P.E.

Secretary

Read Yassmin's Bio

Melissa J. Batula, P.E.

Acting Executive Deputy Secretary

Read Melissa's Bio

Michael Keiser, P.E.

Acting Deputy Secretary, Highway Administration

Read Mike's Bio

Kurt J. Myers

Deputy Secretary, Driver and Vehicle Services

Read Kurt's Bio

Larry S. Shifflet

Deputy Secretary, Planning

Read Larry's Bio

Jennie Louwerse, AICP

Deputy Secretary, Multimodal

Read Jennie's Bio

Michelle Jennings

Acting Deputy Secretary, Administration

Read Michelle's Bio

Financials

Fiscal Year 2020-2021

Photo Credit: Dave Thompson

Revenue Sources 2020-21
Source Amount
State Funding
Motor License Fund: Non-Restricted $2,710,492,000
Motor License Fund: Restricted $1,735,643,000
Motor License Fund: Restricted Aviation $10,564,000
Multimodal Fund $151,900,000
Act 44 Public Transportation Trust Fund $2,045,440,000
Act 26 Pennsylvania Transportation Assistance Fund $241,741,000
Pennsylvania Infrastructure Bank $42,500,000
Lottery Fund $170,907,000
General Fund $111,367,000
General Fund Bonds $175,000,000
Unconventional Gas Well Fund $1,000,000
Organ & Tissue Donation Awareness Fund $100,000
Total State Funding $7,396,654,000
Federal & Other Funding
Federal Funds: Highways $1,771,570,000
Federal Funds: Pass Through $177,790,000
Federal Funds: Public Transportation and Other $301,685,000
Federal & Other: Aviation $109,047,000
Other Funds: Highways $191,222,000
Federal & Other Funds: Rail Freight $0
Total Federal & Other $2,552,314,000
Total Funding $9,947,968,000
Revenue Uses 2020-21
Source Amount
Highway-Related
Highway & Bridge Maintenance $1,640,005,000
Highway & Bridge Improvement $2,639,255,000
Driver & Vehicle Services $273,175,000
Payments to Local Government $844,267,000
PennDOT Facilities $5,000,000
General Government Operations $65,082,000
Pennsylvania Infrastructure Bank $42,500,000
Refunds & Other $2,550,000
Welcome Centers $3,815,000
Total Highway-Related Uses $5,515,649,000
Multimodal-Related
Aviation $129,611,000
Rail Freight $41,000,000
Mass Transit $2,412,181,000
Rural & Intercity Transit $303,585,000
Free & Shared Ride Transit $170,907,000
Aviation Grants $6,466,000
Rail Freight Grants (EA) $10,775,000
Passenger Rail Grants (EA) $2,155,000
Ports & Waterways Grants (EA) $10,775,000
Bicycle & Pedestrian Facilities Grants Statewide (EA) $4,317,000
Statewide Program Grants (EA) $40,000,000
Multimodal Administration & Oversight (EA) $4,336,000
Transfer to Commonwealth Financial Authority (EA) $64,164,000
PennPorts Regional Port Authority Debt Service $4,608,000
Total Multimodal Uses $1,223,135,000
Debt Service & Other Agencies
Pennsylvania State Police $703,430,000
General Fund Capital Debt $102,585,000
Pennsylvania Turnpike $159,993,000
Motor License Fund Capital Debt: Highway and Bridges $108,623,000
Other Agencies $139,504,000
Tort Payments $9,000,000
Total Debt Service & Other Agencies $1,223,135,000
Total Revenue Uses $9,947,968,000

All states struggle with how to pay for transportation infrastructure and services. Pennsylvania is especially challenged in this area for two reasons: the age and size of our transportation network, and our outsized reliance on the unsustainable gas tax to pay for it. Due to inflation and fuel efficiency, it is increasingly clear that the gas tax is not sustainable and other options must be explored to provide reliable transportation funding.

Motor License Fund Income 2020-21
Source Amount
Liquid Fuels Tax $3,228,468,000
License & Fees $1,164,189,000
Other $17,855,000
Total State Revenue Utilized $4,410,512,000
Motor License Fund Expenditures 2020-21
Source Amount
Highway Maintenance $1,509,897,000
Highway & Bridge Improvement $968,757,000
State Police $705,530,000
Local Subsidy $584,406,000
Driver & Vehicle Services $221,304,000
Other Department $186,410,000
Turnpike $159,993,000
Other PennDOT $74,215,000
Total State Expenditures $4,410,512,000

Top Regional Projects 2021

Here are the top projects submitted by each engineering district. A more complete listing of projects can be found at Projects.PennDOT.gov.

District 1

Crawford | Erie | Forest | Mercer | Venango | Warren
 

Project: Route 8 Reconstruction

Cost: $32.6 million

County: Venango
 

District 2

Cameron | Centre | Clearfield | Clinton | Elk | Juniata | McKean | Mifflin | Potter

Project: State Route 153/Section 269

Cost: $3.7 million

County: Clearfield
 

District 3

Bradford | Columbia | Lycoming | Montour | Northumberland | Snyder | Sullivan | Tioga | Union

Project: Route 180, Mill and Resurface and Bridge Replacement

Cost: $8.9 million

County: Northumberland

District 4

Lackawanna | Luzerne | Pike | Susquehanna | Wayne | Wyoming

Project: U.S. Route 6

Cost: $5.2 million

County: Pike
 

District 5

Berks | Carbon | Lehigh | Monroe | Northampton | Schuylkill

Project: PA 29 Bridge over Norfolk Southern Railroad

Cost: $8.6 million

County: Lehigh

District 6

Bucks | Chester | Delaware | Montgomery | Philadelphia

Project: I-95 Section BS4/H04

Cost: $80.9 million

County: Philadelphia
 

District 8

Adams | Cumberland | Dauphin | Franklin | Lancaster | Lebanon | Perry | York

Project: I-83 Exit 4 Diverging Diamond Interchange

Cost: $29.9 million

County: York

District 9

Bedford | Blair | Cambria | Fulton | Huntingdon | Somerset
 

Project: Route 219 Carrolltown Improvements

Cost: $6 million

County: Cambria

District 10

Armstrong | Butler | Clarion | Indiana | Jefferson
 

Project: Freedom Road Turnpike Bridge Project

Cost: $13.1 million

County: Butler

District 11

Allegheny | Beaver | Lawrence
 

Project: I-579 Project

Cost: $29.7 million

County: Allegheny
 

District 12

Fayette | Greene | Washington | Westmoreland

Project: Interstate 70-K10 Project

Cost: $67.5 million

County: Westmoreland

Highways & Bridges

2021 PennDOT Highlights

465 State-Owned Bridges Presevered or Improved

$55 Million For Roadway Patching

150,066 Tons of Asphalt Used

5,600 Miles of Improved Roadway

Photo Credit: Dave Thompson

With PennDOT directly responsible for approximately 40,000 roadway miles and 25,400 bridges in Pennsylvania, maintaining our transportation network takes strong partnership among the department, federal and local governments, planning partners, the construction industry and our communities.

In addition to the state's highways and bridges, a robust menu of travel and commerce options such as aviation, transit and rail facilities are also essential to keeping people and goods moving.

Lettings by Dollars
Lettings by Contracts
Construction Lettings
Year Dollars Number of Contracts
2016 $2.43 billion 825
2017 $2.57 billion 703
2018 $2.48 billion 726
2019 $2.2 billion 589
2020 $1.55 billion 473
2021 $2.02 billion 566

*5-Year Average

This is a multi-year statistical review of reportable motor vehicle crashes in Pennsylvania. A reportable crash is one in which the incident occurs on a highway or traffic way that is open to the public and an injury or a fatality occurs, or at least one of the vehicles involved requires towing from the scene.

Crashes
Fatalities
Pennsylvania Highway Fatalities & Crashes 5-Year Average
5-Year Span Crashes Fatalities
2013-17 126,019 1,186
2014-18 126,888 1,182
2015-19 127,679 1,155
2016-20 123,148 1,141
2017-21 120,849 1,149

As the five-year crash fatality average has begun to level out, PennDOT is more committed than ever to making Pennsylvania's roadways safer for travelers of all modes. PennDOT's 2022 Strategic Highway Safety Plan, found online at PennDOT.pa.gov/Safety, outlines our strategy to decrease, and eventually eliminate, crash fatalities in Pennsylvania. Additionally, the public can access commonly requested crash and fatality information, as well as create their own custom searches with the Pennsylvania Crash Information Tool online at CrashInfo.PennDOT.gov.

A woman sitting on a white carpet with her dog. A laptop rests in front of her, open to the PennDOT Customer Care Center website.

36,210

Customer Care Center Submissions

PennDOT resolved 36,210 public submissions to its Customer Care Center.

Submit a Concern
The side of a yellow PennDOT truck with the words 1-800-FIX-ROAD.

Quality of Life

Four people in bright orange vests and yellow work gloves hold trash bags and pick up trash on a sidewalk.

In November 2021, Governor Tom Wolf, the state secretaries for the departments of Transportation and Environmental Protection, and local and stakeholder representatives released the state's first-ever Litter Action Plan, which reflects the work of more than 100 stakeholders from state and local government, businesses, the legislature, and more. It also includes both current initiatives and recommendations to clean up the more than 500 million pieces of litter scattered throughout the commonwealth.

PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian noted that the agency's annual $14 million cost to clean up litter makes litter prevention especially important. In addition to examples and suggestions for the General Assembly, local governments, businesses, and the public, the report outlines 16 recommendations for the commonwealth.

Examples of actions state agencies are taking to support the higher-level recommendations in the plan include:

  • PennDOT, the Department of Community and Economic Development, and DEP collaboration on an anti-litter campaign anticipated for spring 2022.
  • PennDOT analysis of where and how to ensure it has the right litter-reducing tools in place in its public-facing facilities.
  • DEP work underway on a new rulemaking to provide convenient and affordable access to waste disposal and recycling services in rural areas of Pennsylvania where trash collection and recycling services are currently not economically feasible.
  • The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) is complementing their "Leave No Trace" program with working to update their concessionaire agreements to include language aimed at combatting litter, such as requiring food providers to minimize paper straw and disposable utensil use. And when onsite composting is available at a state park, concessionaires will be required to work with DCNR to convert as many of their food service products to compostable, paper-based forest product alternatives and then compost them with the food waste.
  • State Police continuing Operation Clean Sweep, which launched in summer 2021 and reinforces a zero-tolerance mindset with litter enforcement, while sharing anti-litter messages year-round. This complements their assistance with enforcing Litter Enforcement Corridors that, under a 2018 law, can be designated by the department and local governments to combat litter.
  • The Department of Education's review of opportunities to further incorporate antilitter curriculum into their environmental programming standards.
  • Fish and Boat Commission pilot projects, in coordination with DCNR, to properly dispose of fishing line.

PennDOT provides litter information and many additional litter cleanup volunteer opportunities, including Adopt-A-Highway, Litter Brigades, and more on its Roadside Beautification page.

Driver & Vehicle Services

In 2021, PennDOT's Driver and Vehicle Services licensed Pennsylvania's nearly 9 million drivers and 810,858 motorcyclists, while registering nearly 12 million vehicles and close to 377,000 motorcycles.

A group of people stand to the left of a large banner that reads Save Lives and promotes the Gift of Life Donor Program.

Many Pennsylvanians have answered the call to become organ donors, helping the Pennsylvania organ donation organizations reach a major milestone this year. Nearly 50 percent of current driver's license and identification card holders are registered organ donors — that's more than five million Pennsylvanians. Currently, more than 7,000 Pennsylvanians await organ transplants. Learn more at Donate Life Pennsylvania.

PennDOT Driver License Centers are operated by PennDOT employees and offer driver license services.

PennDOT's stand-alone Photo Centers are located throughout Pennsylvania. When you receive a camera card, which is an invitation to our photo license, identification card process, you must appear at a photo center to obtain a photo for a driver's license or an identification card.

PennDOT partners with private businesses to provide customers with face-to-face, over-the-counter services. Online indicates that these business partners have a secure, electronic connection to PennDOT and can issue a variety of products on-the-spot. These businesses charge a market-driven fee for their services in addition to applicable PennDOT fees.

9.1 Million

Licensed Drivers

12.1 Million

Registered Vehicles

3,370

Special Fund License Plates Sold

$71,800

Special Fund License Plates Proceeds

10.3 Million

Online Transaction

26,144

Personal License Plates Sold

25,506

PA Motorcycle License App Downloads

807,444

Licensed Motorcyclists

375,462

Registered Motorcycles

10,193

Participants in the Motorcycle Safety Course

242,503

PA Driver License App Downloads

Multimodal

2021 PennDOT Highlights

141 Million Fixed-Route Bus Trips

65 Operating Railroads

5,600 Miles of Railroad Tracks

121 Licensed Public Airports

Three women wearing cloth face masks sit in a bus.

17.7 million

Fixed Bus Trips for Seniors

A man assists a woman in a wheelchair getting on a bus.

1.6 Million

Senior Shared-Ride Program Trips

In 2021, PennDOT advanced several Active Transportation Plan priorities to improve opportunities for walking and biking through coordination efforts with planning regions across the state.

The department completed a rewrite of the Bicycle Design Chapter of Pub 13 - Design Manual 2 (PDF).

The chapter broadly modernizes and expands design guidance for on-road bicycle facilities.

PennDOT released a new policy on Trails in Limited Access Right-of-Way (PDF) that allows local governments to propose potential trail alignments within PennDOT's limited access right-of-way.

Department staff continue outreach to all partners on the Active Transportation Plan as part of educational awareness and to emphasize the importance of the PennDOT Connects process to identify and support local planning needs.

PennDOT continues to coordinate with other state agencies to fund local planning efforts, improve trail facilities, and educate local communities on the value of active transportation.

Governor Tom Wolf speaks at a podium with a Pittsburgh bridge in the background.

Governor Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Deputy Secretary for Multimodal Transportation Jennie Louwerse were joined by Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose, Norfolk Southern (NS) Regional Vice President Rudy Husband and local officials announced that the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) passed in 2021 has paved the way for movement toward improved freight and passenger-rail service between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.

Due to the BIL's passenger-rail investments, PennDOT and NS will now collaborate on the operating agreement and finalize the improvements required to increase passenger-rail service on the NS-owned corridor west of Harrisburg. The engineering and construction will stem from a NS operational feasibility study identifying improvements required to eliminate eight chokepoints and to allow freight and passenger trains to operate without conflicting with each other.

The improvements can begin when PennDOT and NS finalize an operating agreement including the project scope, how freight and passenger operations will both safely use the corridor, compensation for the use of NS's assets, and adequate liability protection. PennDOT will fund the agreement by redirecting state Multimodal Transportation Fund dollars because part of the BIL's funding is intended to replace train sets on the Amtrak passenger-rail network. PennDOT had been setting aside funding to meet requirements from a 2008 federal law which would have required approximately $350 million from Pennsylvania toward train set costs.

As of January 2022 there are 567 transit vehicles powered by alternative fuels in operation at Pennsylvania transit agencies. In 2021, 330 transit vehicles were replaced throughout Pennsylvania with the help of state funding.

Container lifts and containers at the Port of Philadelphia due to PA Intermodal Cargo Growth Incentive Program:

  • 37,030 Added Container Lifts (FY 20-21)
  • 215,828 Total Lifts Increased Since 2015 (FY 20-21)

Keystone corridor passenger trips:

  • Keystone: 295,467 (FY 20-21)
  • Pennsylvanian: 107,271 (FY 20-21)
  • Total: 402,738 (FY 20-21)
  • 110 aviation grants awards (FY 20-21)
  • $34.6 million in grant funding (FY 20-21)
  • 121 public airports/heliports licensed in PA
  • 15 scheduled service airports
  • 15 commercial airports
  • 63 federally sponsored airports
  • 25 Rail Freight Projects (RFAP/RTAP) approved (FY 20-21)
  • 7 Rail Transportation Assistance Program (RTAP) projects completed in CY 2021 totaling approximately 23 miles of track improved/added
  • 21 Rail Freight Assistance Program (RFAP) projects completed in CY 2021 totaling 149 miles of track improved/added
  • 65 operating railroads
  • More than 5,600 miles of track

Innovations

Delivering transportation innovations is part of PennDOT's DNA, and we remain committed by developing smart approaches to doing business through catalysts, like the State Transportation Innovation Council, to exploring transformational technology like automated vehicles, safety, and continuous quality improvement through employee engagement.

A worker smooths out a slab of concrete.

The Pennsylvania State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC) continues to be a vital and collaborative entity that remains focused on advancing proven innovations to improve transportation for the people of Pennsylvania.

Despite another challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 saw the selection of five Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Every Day Counts Round 6 (EDC-6) innovations that Pennsylvania is pursuing, including Crowdsourcing for Advancing Operations; e-Ticketing and Digital As-Builts; Next Generation Traffic Incident Management (TIM): Integrating Technology, Data and Training; Targeted Pavement Overlay Solutions (TOPS); and Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) for Bridge Preservation and Repair. Additionally, significant progress was made on innovations from previous EDC rounds, including Unmanned Aerial Systems and Collaborative Hydraulics: Advancing to the Next Generation of Engineering (CHANGE).

Four new STIC innovations were introduced in 2021, including Slotted Median Barriers, Standardizing Concrete Color on Bridges, the Environmental Monitor Role for Large Construction Projects and LED Lighted Plow Wings. This brought the total number of STIC innovations currently in development to 11. Two additional innovations — Certified Concrete Finishers Course and Sequential Dynamic Lighting Curve Warning Systems — moved to the Advancement Phase of the STIC Innovation Development Process, and three innovations were fully deployed — Hot Pour Mastics, Stormwater Training and Field Guidebook and Predictive Work Zone Analysis.

A project, coordinated through PennDOT's Strategic Recycling Program that is funded through DEP, includes two quarter-mile roadway stretches surfaced with an asphalt/recycled-plastic mix. The material is intended to strengthen the roadway surface without leaching plastic material into the surrounding environment.

This new material being tested supports interagency goals to increase the commonwealth's sustainability in operations while supporting deployment in the state overall. Potential benefits include:

  • Extended useful life of asphalt pavements;
  • Diverting waste plastics from landfills and helping to establish a viable market for these plastics; and
  • Continued ability to reuse asphalt millings in future recycled- asphalt pavement applications.

How to Reach Us

PennDOT's 11 Engineering Districts throughout the state maintain, restore and expand the state's highway systems. Each office does its part to deliver a safe and efficient transportation system on the nearly 40,000 miles of highway and roughly 25,400 bridges that PennDOT is responsible for.

See or sign up for PennDOT news near you by finding your Regional Office.

More information about PennDOT's operations and the state highway system is available in PennDOT's Fact Book (PDF).

Photo Credit: Dave Thompson

District 1 District 2 District 3 District 4 District 5 District 6 District 8 District 9 District 10 District 11 District 12

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