The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission voted Tuesday to hike tolls by 6 percent come January 3, 2016.
As a result, the most common toll for a Class-1 (passenger) vehicle will increase next year from $1.09 to $1.16 for E-ZPass customers and from $1.70 to $1.85 for cash customers. The most common toll for a Class-5 vehicle — a prevalent tractor-trailer class — will increase from $9.05 to $9.59 for E-ZPass customers and from $12.80 to $13.60 for cash customers.
The commission said Tuesday in a press release that the toll increase is needed to repay “substantial borrowing” required to meet the the agencies financial obligations under state laws signed in 2007 and 2013. The increase follows seven years of hikes and will likely continue for the “foreseeable future.”
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“The legislature passed Act 44 in 2007, requiring us to make payments to PennDOT for roadway projects and mass-transit operations statewide; since then, we’ve transferred $4.75 billion to the Commonwealth for off-Turnpike investment,” Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Chairman Sean Logan said. “As a result of Act 89 of 2013, our payments will be lowered from $450 million a year to $50 million a year beginning in 2023. We welcome this relief, but we will still be required to make additional payments totaling almost $5 billion through 2057.”
Logan said the commission would continue to work to reduce costs but “traffic and revenue forecasts estimate annual increases of three to six percent will be required until 2044.”
The press statement from the commission stated that despite the financial situation, crews continue to work to repair the 74-year-old turnpike.
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The Pennsylvania Turnpike system stretches 550 miles across the commonwealth.
