The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is reminding drivers that a toll increase approved last year will take effect across the highway system just after midnight Jan. 7.
The commission in July approved a 5% increase for E-ZPass and toll-by-plate customers effective Jan. 7.
The most common toll for a passenger vehicle will increase from $1.80 to $1.90 for E-ZPass customers and from $4.40 to $4.70 for toll-by-plate customers, the commission said in a release.
The most common toll for a Class 5 tractor-trailer will increase from $14.40 to $15.20 for E-ZPass and from $29.40 to $30.90 for toll-by-plate.
After the increase is applied, E-ZPass and toll-by-plate rates for passenger and commercial vehicles will round up to the nearest dime.
E-ZPass drivers will continue to get the lowest rates, saving nearly 60% on tolls, officials said.
To check toll rates for travel on the turnpike, visit paturnpike.com/toll-calculator.
With the state’s passage of Act 44 in 2007, the turnpike was obligated to pay PennDOT $450 million per year to fund nonturnpike transportation needs around the state totaling $8 billion since 2008, officials said.
Though the payments have been greatly reduced, and no new Act 44 debt is being accrued, the turnpike must continue to raise tolls to pay the resulting escalating Act 44 debt service due through 2051, they said.
“Our annual toll increases directly support the escalating Act 44 debt service we have had to manage due to the mandates of Act 44 of 2007,” explained Rick Dreher, turnpike commission chief financial officer. “However, even given that significant financial management challenge, our per-mile toll rates are lower than national toll averages and remain in the midrange among the 47 toll roads in the U.S.”
“Our goal is to be good stewards of the customers’ dollars, and we are doing so by controlling costs, operating a safe and reliable road with premium services, funding transportation projects across the commonwealth (Act 44 projects) and reinvesting back into our system,” said Mark Compton, turnpike commission chief executive officer. “The pace and scale of our toll increases are directly attributable to Act 44.”
The turnpike also reminds drivers that Act 112 — signed into law in 2018 and enhanced by the Legislature in 2022 — enables the commission to work with PennDOT to suspend motor vehicle registrations of owners with four or more overdue toll-by-plate invoices or $250 or more in unpaid tolls or outstanding toll invoices.
To encourage prompt payment, the turnpike’s toll-by-pate invoices now include a QR code that customers scan to pay directly from their devices.
Additionally, the turnpike partnered with a cash-payment network, enabling customers to use cash to pay invoices and replenish E-ZPass accounts at 70,000 stores nationwide.
At the current time, commercial traffic volumes are up 14.5% versus pre-pandemic levels and passenger traffic is approximately 95% of the pre-pandemic peak, officials said.
Construction supporting the commission’s conversion to open road tolling is underway in the eastern part of the state with construction of overhead gantries and support buildings, officials said. This conversion is an effort to improve customer experience, system access and ensure safe, free flow of traffic across the state, officials said.
Open road tolling moves tolling points to the active road and accesses tolls to vehicles as they drive at highway speeds beneath overhead structures — called gantries — located between interchanges. Officials said this change will go into effect east of the Reading interchanges and along the northeastern extension in January 2025 and will be launched on the rest of the system in early 2027.
Source: Berkshire mont
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