Pittsburg, PA
Pittsburgh International receives another $5.3 million in federal funds for terminal project – Pittsburgh Union Progress
Pittsburgh International Airport has received another $5.3 million federal grant to help with construction of its new $1.57 billion terminal.
The grant is part of $970 million in grants announced Thursday morning by the U.S. Department of Transportation for airport terminals across the county, including three others in Pennsylvania. The grants are the third round of awards from the $5 billion earmarked for terminal improvements under the Biden administration’s $2.1 trillion infrastructure program.
This is the third grant the Allegheny County Airport Authority has received for the new PIA terminal and brings the total to $28.8 million. The project will replace the current terminal that features two buildings joined by an underground train with a single, environmentally neutral building that is scheduled to open in early 2025.
“We’re thankful to our federal partners who understand the positive impact this funding will have on the regional economy and the importance of investing in the next generation of Western Pennsylvania’s infrastructure,” Vince Gastgeb, chief government and corporate affairs officer for the authority, said in a statement. “The Airport Authority is extremely proud of the progress we’ve made on the new terminal for Pittsburgh International Airport — and the thousands of jobs it supports — and this funding will help us deliver the new front door to the region that is emblematic of our thriving community today.”
At a briefing for the news media Wednesday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the grants will pay for improvements at 114 terminals that will “add up to a better experience” for travelers by making terminals “safer, more efficient and more enjoyable.”
“These are projects that are going to save passengers time and money,” he said.
The grants will range from facilities with several hundred thousand square feet of terminal space to small facilities that currently operate out of trailers. Work will include making facilities accessible for people with disabilities and improving security check points, passenger check in and baggage claim facilities.
“This funding is real,” Shannetta Griffin, associate administrator for airports at the Federal Aviation Administration, said during the briefing. “We are changing lives.”
Other grants in Pennsylvania were $20.4 million toward a $63 million project at Philadelphia International Airport; $7.5 million toward a $15.7 million project at Harrisburg International Airport; and $2.7 million toward a $73.5 million project at Lancaster Airport.
The grants were extremely competitive, Buttigieg said, with the agency receiving 654 applications for about $14 billion.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he’s currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.
Last year, Americans received nearly 30 billion scam robocalls and text messages. Now, leaders in Pennsylvania are taking a new approach to try to crack down on them.
“It’s not just certain audiences that are targeted in this space. It’s really everybody,” said Kate Sullivan, CEO of Better Business Bureau of Western Pennsylvania. “Robocalling is just faster and more aggressive than it’s ever been,” Sullivan said.
The prevalence, exacerbated by artificial intelligence, is why 49 attorneys general across the country sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission to strengthen its rules to prevent scammers from accessing legitimate phone numbers.
“You have individuals that will purchase maybe 100,000 different phone numbers,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said. “Those numbers will land somewhere where you have a nefarious actor who will use those numbers to do the robocalls.”
Sunday is part of the Anti-Robocall Task Force, along with West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey. Last year, the coalition sent warning letters to major phone service providers to stop allowing illegal robocalls to reach consumers. Now they’re building on this by going directly to the FCC.
“The consumer matters, and we want to make sure that our constituents, the consumers that are in our states’ voices, are being heard at the highest level as loudly as they can be,” McCuskey said.
Sunday said they want to put more onus on companies to not sell these numbers, and if they do, to have documentation that can be provided to law enforcement so they can trace back and hold the scammers accountable.
KDKA-TV reached out to the FCC for comment. A spokesperson said in part that they “welcome this input from state leaders.” They also mentioned, “The Commission proposed expanding certification and disclosure requirements to all providers that receive telephone numbering resources… to stop scammers from exploiting gaps in the system.”
“Getting ahead of it and more protections for the consumers, I think, does have quite a bit of value,” Sullivan said.
As for what you can do, the BBB and AGs said it’s better to let a robocall go to voicemail. If you decline it, that indicates you’re a real person and may get more calls. Also, make sure to report robocalls to the BBB or the Federal Trade Commission.
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