PITTSBURGH — Gov. Ed Rendell signed legislation that aims to give $946 million a year, on average, over the next decade to mass transit agencies and for road and bridge projects.

"Pennsylvania's mass transit is on a firm footing for the next-decade plus," Rendell said Tuesday before signing the legislation at a city subway stop. "No more coming back each year and saying, 'We have a crisis.' No more living hand to mouth, month to month."

Under the legislation, the state would try to impose new tolls on Interstate 80 and spend $750 million this year to repair crumbling highways, fix bridges and shore up cash-strapped mass transit systems. Over the next decade, the state's 73 public transit systems will get about $414 million per year more than they currently get.

Transit systems in the state's two largest cities had threatened massive service cuts without the new money. To underscore that mass transit is also a concern outside those heavily populated regions, Rendell said proposed service cuts in Altoona's Amtran system, which ferries nearly 2,000 passengers a day on buses, were unacceptable.

Rendell said it's become apparent as gas prices have increased over the last several years that people will use mass transit.

"If we make mass transit better, it will build up ridership," Rendell said.

By The Associated Press