PA Turnpike Toll Increase To Take Effect Sunday

The cost of traveling on the 550-mile Pennsylvania Turnpike will increase come Sunday.

The 6 percent toll hike was approved in mid-2015 and will help the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission repay “substantial borrowing.”

Here’s how the increase breaks down:

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 latest increase marks the eighth consecutive year in which tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike have increased.

“The 2016 toll increase — like other annual rate hikes since 2009 — is needed, in part, to repay the substantial borrowing required to meet the PTC’s financial obligations under state laws signed in 2007 and 2013,” said Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Chairman Sean Logan. “Act 44 of 2007 requires the PTC to make annual payments of $450 million to PennDOT used mostly for statewide mass-transit operations; under this law, the PTC has transferred nearly $5 billion to date to PennDOT for off-Turnpike use.”

The toll increases come after the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has borrowed billions to operate the 74-year-old highway.

The most frightening fact for drivers is that increases of more than 3 percent are expected to take place until 2044, according officials.

The toll increases come as Pennsylvania Turnpike officials prepare to convert the Delaware Valley toll booths in Bristol Township to a cashless interchange.

PAIndipendent.com reported in summer that a trip across the state on the Turnpike could cost $80 by 2044.