SHENANGO VALLEY Shuttle service moves closer to federal funding

The money will be used to build about 16 bus passenger comfort stations.
SHARON, Pa. -- The Shenango Valley Shuttle Service moved a major step forward toward securing a $1 million federal transit grant.
U.S. Rep. Phil English of Erie, R-3rd, said that he was able to get the allocation earmarked in the House version of the Transportation and Equity Act bill passed Friday by the House.
The Senate has approved similar legislation and the two versions will now go to a conference committee to work out a final draft for the legislation.
The $1 million is less than 20 percent of the amount requested in a grant application filed through the city of Sharon, but James DeCapua, executive director of the Mercer County Regional Council of Governments, which runs the shuttle service, said his agency is "very excited about getting the bookmark" in the pending legislation.
The original application sought $6.2 million in federal funds or 80 percent of the cost of several projects totaling $7.8 million. The state would pick up two-thirds of the remaining 20 percent and the shuttle service capital reserve fund would cover the rest.
Chosen as priority
The original project included 46 bus passenger comfort stations to be built at locations in Sharon, Farrell, Hermitage, Sharpsville and Wheatland, the purchase of equipment for a shared municipal garage with the city of Sharon, and the construction of parking lots at Penn Avenue/Silver Street and Pitt Street/Shenango Avenue in Sharon.
Because it was unlikely the full grant would be allocated, the application had to prioritize the projects, DeCapua said, noting that the passenger comfort stations were picked as the top priority.
They will cost about $75,000 each to build, and a federal grant of $1 million, coupled with about $200,000 in state and local matching funds, will be enough to build about 16 of them in the five municipalities, he said.
"We have cleared the first major hurdle to getting $1 million ... that will help support economic growth in the area," English said.