HARRISBURG — A rare meeting of top Republican and Democratic legislative leaders has created new hope for passage of a bill to fund transportation projects in Pennsylvania, negotiators said Tuesday as a soft deadline this week for movement of a bill was replaced by a November target date.

Five of the six leaders of both parties in the House and Senate met Monday in the offices of Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, looking for a bipartisan agreement on what is the most closely watched issue before the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

“I’m more optimistic,” said House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny. “I mean, we’re talking and working together.”

Senate Republican leaders called the meeting to try to keep talks alive as the fall session ticks away and to ensure that any measure that is advanced by the more conservative House will be acceptable to senators, said Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson.

“We’ve allowed the House to have conversations to get to 102 votes and we haven’t interfered with those conversations,” Scarnati said. “But we want to be sure that whatever happens in the House will get a warm reception in the Senate.”

Jettisoning today’s deadline for a House vote buys time for what is a top priority of Gov. Tom Corbett, major business groups and labor unions. After this week, the Legislature’s next session day is Nov. 12.

In June, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill to ramp up transportation spending by $2.5 billion a year by raising taxes, fees and fines on motorists. However, since then, House Republican leaders have struggled to find substantial GOP support for a similar measure, unless it rolls back union-supported wage requirements on transportation projects.

House Speaker Sam Smith, who is leading House negotiations, said he has not changed his support for changing the state’s prevailing wage rules, and that changes are necessary to generate sufficient support within House Republican ranks.