For several years I’ve driven Route 61 south from Tilden Township through Leesport to work first in Sinking Spring and now in Reading. Almost every day on my way through Leesport I see a man standing in front of the Leesport Turkey Hill holding his lunch-box waiting for the BARTA bus. I have a good friend at my church who relies on BARTA to get to work each day because she is legally blind. All across Berks County this scenario is repeated on a daily basis. BARTA is not just for the City of Reading it serves a wide array of people throughout Berks County.

Please take a moment to look at BARTA’s website. Only 6 out of the 22 BARTA bus routes are exclusively city routes. The other 16 routes extend as far as Lyons, Hamburg, Wernersville and Morgantown. www.BARTABus.com  

Like any other issue I have carefully considered the impact of funding or not funding BARTA on our taxpayers and our county as a whole. I remain committed to voting against increasing property taxes during my 4 years in office and acting in the best interest of the county.

I appreciate your concerns regarding funding for BARTA. Here are the reasons I have decided to support funding.

    1. BARTA serves much of Berks County and not simply the city.

    2. Without the money from the county BARTA will lose about $3 million dollars in State and Federal matching funds, forcing it out of business.

    3. During these tough economic times public transportation is a vital link for those with limited or no transportation

    4. If Berks County loses its public transportation services it would create a serious economic impact for our county.
        A. Many businesses who currently rely on BARTA would lose valuable employees
        B. Businesses considering moving to Berks would consider the lack of public transportation a black mark against our region. One of the major concerns businesses have is access to a work     force.    The lack of public transportation severely limits that access.

I hope this helps clarify my position.                                                                                                                                                                 RETURN TO HOME PAGE

Christian Y. Leinbach
Commissioner / County of Berks
633 Court Street
Reading, PA 19601
Phone: 610-478-6136 Ext. 3
Fax: 610-478-6139
Email: CLeinbach@CountyofBerks.com
www.CountyofBerks.com