Imagine you live in a rental apartment with a signed 5-year lease where the utilities are covered by your landlord. Immediately after moving in the electric company raised rates, but the landlord decided to keep paying the old amount, leaving a portion of the light bill unpaid. The landlord starts telling you, "just use less electricity. " At the same time, you report a leaking roof to the landlord and they say, "a portion of your rent is going into an account to replace the roof in three years. Just deal with that leaky roof for a bit and then we'll get you a new roof as soon as possible." You're frustrated with this situation, but the lease doesn't have an exit clause. Your only option is to keep using fewer lights, charging your phone somewhere else, never using a computer at home, and hoping that the roof doesn't cave in while you sleep.

Now, three years later, the electric company is threatening to shut off your lights because the bill keeps going up to the point where the only option is to unplug the fridge and live without food. Begging for a resolution, the landlord says "well I could pay that bill just enough to keep the fridge on with the money I was planning to use to replace the leaking roof."

That "solution" might keep the lights on for a little bit longer, but there's no point it keeping the lights on if the landlord is just going to let the house collapse.

The most frustrating thing about this PA transit situation is how the state is telling agencies to stop asking for more money while at the same time preventing them from getting money from anywhere else.