Roads not taken in funding SEPTA? The state leaves it little leeway for a local, dedicated source of revenue.

When Pennsylvania legislators complain that SEPTA already gets more state funding and less local funding than most transit agencies in the United States, they're right.

But whose fault is that?

In Pennsylvania, the state prevents regional transit agencies and local governments from raising money in many of the ways used by their counterparts elsewhere.

Colorado and Georgia provide none of the money to operate Denver's and Atlanta's mass transit. Instead, they authorize local sales taxes, approved by local voters. New York, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio are among the states where local property taxes are earmarked for mass transit. Los Angeles County uses a 1 percent sales tax, approved by county voters.

Thirty-three states have authorized local or regional sales taxes specifically for transportation.

Not Pennsylvania.

In 15 states, gas taxes are used for mass transit. In Pennsylvania, a constitutional amendment requires that gas taxes be used for highways.

In eight states, fees on auto registrations, titles and licenses are used for mass transit. In Pennsylvania, the constitutional amendment forbids that.

In three states, local income taxes are used for mass transit. Not in Pennsylvania.

In Pennsylvania, the reins of power - and money - are controlled from Harrisburg. Local governments and regional transit authorities such as SEPTA are limited to the few options the legislature provides.

"The one thing local governments could do is raise the property tax. Short of that, the legislature must enable them to do it," said Erik Randolph, a budget analyst for the House Appropriations Committee. "The state legislature is the responsible governing body. We supply the tools to local government. If we don't supply the tools, we can cause it to fail at the local level, too."

"What they don't address is local demographics or conditions. You can't decide what mix of taxes is best for you," said Rick Schuettler, deputy executive director of the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities.

The result: In 2005, SEPTA got 43 percent of its operations money from the state and only 8 percent from local governments, compared with the national average of 24 percent state funding and 27 percent local funding, according to the National Transit Database.

Among the nation's biggest transit agencies, only Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority got more of its money from the state (55 percent, with 11 percent from local government).