The people of Pennsylvania deserve to know, without any cause for doubts, the truth about the proposed tolling of Interstate 80.

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Phil English, R-3rd, during a stop at the Butler Eagle, reiterated his stance that a substantial portion of the money that would be derived from I-80 tolls would be used to help fund mass transit agencies in the state, particularly in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

His comments were similar to those quoted in an Aug. 5 Eagle article: "The entire strategy for using the revenue from I-80 is to shift its resources to mass transit. This is the largest transfer of resources to benefit richer communities ever introduced and would only lead to tolling of other east-west routes."

On Tuesday, Joseph G. Brimmeier, chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, met with an Eagle editor and writers to discuss the tolling proposal. He emphatically denied several times during that interview that any I-80 toll revenue would be used to bolster mass transit in the state.

He said the bulk of the money would be used to improve the interstate highway and that the remaining money would be used to repair roads and bridges in rural areas.

"That's just not true," Brimmeier said in response to what English and U.S. Rep. John Peterson, R-Venango, have been voicing in regard to the state's plans for the I-80 toll revenue. "And, they know it."

All of that poses a perplexing situation for state residents: Who do they believe?

They need to hear emphatically from Gov. Ed Rendell his view of the situation. State residents should expect the governor to make a crystal-clear statement on how the toll money would be used.

The important thing is that state residents feel reassured that the information they are receiving is not tainted by either politics or unpublicized objectives that, if known, might be the basis for strong opposition.

During Tuesday's interview, Brimmeier said that neither he nor English had called the other in an attempt to arrange a face-to-face discussion about the tolling issue. However, he said, he would be attempting to arrange such a meeting.

He also raised the question of whether English or Peterson would be willing to go to Washington to push for a 20-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax increase to raise the revenue needed for highways and bridges.

English said Monday that he had not taken the issue of supporting a gasoline tax increase off the table.

The congressman has said that "tolling I-80 would be the death knell for many . . . communities." He said it would mean fewer jobs and a larger outflow of resources.

Whatever the truth, the people of Pennsylvania deserve reassurance that what they're hearing is correct. That reassurance still is not at hand.