The new year is starting out with a toll increase for drivers on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Starting just after midnight Sunday, the planned Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission toll hike goes into effect along the highway that goes through the area and across the state.
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Under the new toll plan, the most common rate for passenger vehicles will go from $1.50 to $1.60 for E-ZPass customers and from $2.50 to $3.90 for those choosing Toll-By-Plate. The most common toll for a Class-5 tractor trailer will increase from $12.20 to $13 for E-ZPass and from $17.30 to $26.60 for Toll-By-Plate users, according to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.
E-ZPass offers the lowest toll rate.
Toll-by-plate users will see the additional 45 percent toll increase. The increase for toll-by-plate will not impact the Beaver Valley Express, Delaware River Bridge in Bristol Township, Gateway Toll Plaza at the Ohio Border, Greensburg Bypass, Keyser Avenue and Clarks Summit Tolls, and Findlay Connector.
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The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said non-E-ZPass customers will be able to use the smartphone app to create an autopay account and receive 15 percent savings on their monthly toll-by-plate invoices. The upgraded app – called “PA Toll Pay” – will be available for Turnpike travelers Jan. 3, 2021.
“The new toll-by-plate rates offset the higher costs the Commission incurs to process the toll, mail the invoices and collect payment — a pricing approach used by tolling agencies across the nation to cover the cost of administering AET systems,” Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission CEO Mark Compton said. “This balanced approach allows us to maintain a lower rate for those choosing a payment method that is less costly to administer, while those who choose a pricier payment option absorb those costs.”
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The toll increase by the financially distressed Pennsylvania Turnpike was largely driven by the system’s annual transit payments of $450 million to PennDOT as mandated by Act 44 of 2007 and Act 89 of 2013. Since 2007, tolls have paid $7 billion in funding to PennDOT, which does not operate the turnpike, officials said.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike will have to continue to raise tolls for years to come due to the required payments.
In June, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission voted to lay off more than 500 workers. The workers were mostly toll collectors who believed they had around two years until the highway system’s full transition to cashless tolling.
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Due to the pandemic, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission switched away from cash and credit card tolling and moved permanently to all-electronic tolling collection. The system saves the need for toll collectors and captures a driver’s license plate and uses that information to send a bill.
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