Much of the news coverage of the state budget negotiations in Harrisburg has focused on increased transportation funding by raising $1 billion or more for road and bridge repairs and boosting state aid to mass transit by tolling I-80 and floating bonds on future earnings of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Few drivers in the state would argue against more money for road and bridge repairs. But simply increasing funding for mass transit is troubling to many people because of well-documented inefficiencies at PAT (Allegheny County Port Authority) in Pittsburgh and SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority) in Philadelphia.

Mass transit is necessary, even critical, to many lower-income workers. But boosting state aid without serious internal reforms at the transit agencies would be a mistake.

Any increase in state funding for transportation should come with mandates for reform at not only transit agencies such as PATand SEPTA, but also at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.

Adding tolls to Interstate 80 would increase the turnpike commission's power. But the commission's history of hiring friends and relatives of commission members and leaders in the General Assembly must end. Another practice that must end is the awarding of lucrative no-bid contracts to politically well-connected people with close ties to legislative leaders.

The legislature and the turnpike commission have long had a you-scratch-my-back-and-I'll-scratch-yours sort of relationship, with legislators looking the other way despite clear evidence of waste and nepotism at the commission, while the commission serves influential lawmakers by hiring, or giving business to, their friends and relatives.

A bright spotlight of transparency should shine on the turnpike commission as it takes on a more prominent role across the state. There have been recent calls to get rid of the turnpike commission because of its well-known failings. But if that is not going to happen, the next best thing is serious reform.

If the turnpike commission fails to put its house in order, it should be abolished — or management of the toll road system should be contracted out to a private company.

A similar approach should be taken with the public transit agencies, notably PATand SEPTA. Even without additional state funding, these agencies need to rework their cost structures and rationalize their routes and fares to become more efficient.

A recent commentary by the Commonwealth Foundation suggests that competitive bidding of transit services could save PAT and SEPTAmillions of dollars annually. Competitive contracting has reduced operating costs by an average of 30 percent in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Houston and Las Vegas, according to the Harrisburg-based public policy institute.

The Commonwealth Foundation also suggests the public transit agencies should look at tiered pricing, with discounts for low-income riders and higher fares for others.

In the past, whenever the big public transit agencies were in financial crisis, which was nearly always, they were able to convince Harrisburg to come up with bailout plans involving hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money. With recent talk of reform and some evidence of change, at least at PAT, that pattern appears to be coming to an end.

Though details will likely change before final passage in the legislature, leading transportation funding proposals feature requirements that transit agencies meet standards for passenger load and costs as well as benchmarks for revenue-per-hour and cost-per-passenger-trip. Empty buses, inefficient route structures and overpaid drivers with gold-plated benefit packages cannot be sustained. Everyone, from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to Harrisburg, finally seems to understand that.

The state's sprawling (and ailing)roads and bridges and public transportation systems are vitally important to Pennsylvania. Recent developments in Harrisburg suggest a new awareness that simply throwing money at problems is not the answer.

Whatever additional funding is generated must come with strings attached.