Tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike are rising for the 14th straight year.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission approved a 5 percent increase Tuesday for next year for both E-ZPass and Toll-By-Plate customers. The new toll rates will become effective starting January 2, 2022 at 12:01 a.m.
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“The most-common toll for a passenger vehicle next year will increase from $1.60 to $1.70 for E-ZPass customers and from $3.90 to $4.10 for Toll-By-Plate customers. The most common toll for a Class-5 tractor trailer will increase from $13 to $13.70 for E-ZPass and from $26.60 to $28 for Toll-By-Plate. The cashless toll for a passenger vehicle at the westbound Delaware River Bridge will increase from $6.10 to $6.50 for E-ZPass customers and from $8.20 to $8.70 for those who use Pennsylvania Turnpike Toll-By-Plate,” a statement from the agency said.
Turnpike officials said E-ZPass users will get the lowest toll rates.
After the 2022 increase goes into effect, E-ZPass and Toll-By-Plates rates for passenger and commercial vehicles will round up to the next dime.
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Turnpike officials said the 14 years of increases is necessary to keep up with required payments from Turnpike revenues to the state under laws that were designed to pay for transit funding.
Pennsylvania Act 44 of 2007 required the Turnpike to send $450 million from its coffers to PennDOT from 2009 through this year.
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Turnpike CEO Mark Compton celebrated the end of the required payments and noted the final one will be sent later in July.
“Today’s action is the first time in six years that the rate of increase is under 6 percent,” said Compton. “Starting in July 2022, our transit funding requirement to PennDOT under Act 44 of 2007 will be cut to $50 million annually. Finally, we are seeing a light at the end of this very long tunnel. In addition to breathing a huge sigh of relief ourselves, it enables us to begin to offer some relief to customers from those heftier toll increases and refocus on essential improvements to our roadway.”
Starting next July, the Turnpike won’t have to send $400 million to PennDOT, but it is required under Act 89 of 2013 to provide $50 million to PennDOT through 2057.
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“The Act 44 sunsetting spelled out in Act 89 of 2013 is critical if the PTC is to remain fiscally sound as an organization and for the economic vitality of Turnpike-connected communities,” Compton explained. “But it’s important for customers understand that, even with the reduced obligation, we are still looking at annual toll increases of 5 percent from through 2025, 4 percent in 2026, 3.5 percent in 2027, then 3 percent annually from 2028 to 2050.”
Turnpike drivers and the commission have paid $7.45 billion to PennDOT over the past 14 years.
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Last year during 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.
Following the switch to Toll-By-Plate, 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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