The commission announced the decision on Tuesday, stating the increase is needed to repay “substantial borrowing” required to meet the its financial obligations under state laws signed in 2007 and 2013.
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“I was noticing how much it cost me to go to work everyday and it’s quite offensive to go like 15 miles down the turnpike cost a few dollars, so this is where we end up and sometimes you have to say to yourself, start taking alternative routes”, said Stephen Sagrestano of Lansdale.
Because of that demand, and the Turnpike’s own construction and improvement needs, the commission will have to increase tolls by 3 to 6 percent every year until 2044, based on traffic and revenue forecasts.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission approved a 6 percent increase to take effect January 3.
Turnpike officials want to see how successful they are at collecting tolls by mail from non-E-ZPass users and will evaluate “employee issues” with all-electronic tolling, DeFebo said. “We welcome this relief, but we will still be required to make additional payments totaling nearly $5 billion through 2057”.
The opening of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s first all-electronic toll facility in Bucks County in January will be the first step toward doing away with cash tolls – and toll collectors – all along the turnpike. The most common toll for a tractor-trailer will increase from $9.05 to $9.59 for E-ZPass customers and from $12.80 to $13.60 for cash customers.
Citing obligations to state transportation funding, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is raising tolls for an eighth straight year.
The commission said it has tried to hold operating costs to a growth rate of less than 3 percent over the past five fiscal years.
Turnpike CEO Mark Compton said 450 miles of roadway must be rebuilt from the ground up and widened from four lanes to six.
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Even with this boosted spending, the Commission is racing against the clock due to the age of the toll-road system, working to stay ahead of pavement deterioration to provide a fit roadway for the future. Eastbound tolls will rise from $46.10 to $48.90 for cash and from $32.95 to $34.93 for E-ZPass. In addition, E-ZPass retailers charge a one-time convenience fee (there is no such fee to join online or by phone). Designated as the Jim Thorpe/Lake Harmony exit, it allows E-ZPass customers to get on and off the Northeastern Extension in either direction.
