After $104M Loss, New Bill Seeks To Hold PA Turnpike Accountable

PENNSYLVANIA — New legislation has been introduced that seeks to hold the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission accountable for the massive loss of revenue in 2020 and 2021, and prevent such losses from occurring again.

The Turnpike lost $104 million in uncollected tolls from June 2020 to May 2021, officials said. Millions of motorists without E-ZPass never paid tolls through the state's license plate camera system — a gap that was only made public after The Associated Press filed a Right to Know request and obtained an internal Turnpike report in September.

The soon-to-be-introduced bill, if passed, would require the Turnpike to make an annual report — similar to its internal report — available to the House and Senate Transportation Committees.

"This lost revenue is unacceptable considering the regular toll increases that Turnpike users experience year after year," state Rep. Anthony DeLuca (D-Allegheny) wrote in a co-sponsorship memorandum. "The Legislature has an obligation to conduct oversight of state agencies."

The report would outline revenues from collected tolls as well as any missed revenue from uncollected tolls.

"This legislation will both increase transparency and ensure accountability of this vital system," DeLuca wrote. "Please join me in promoting responsible government oversight by supporting this legislation."

Frustration with the Turnpike commission was broad across the political spectrum in the wake of the discovery that funds had been lost, so bipartisan support for the bill may be feasible.

There appear to be various reasons for the loss, an internal memo from the Turnpike obtained by AP indicates. In 1.8 million riders, the camera could not identify the license plate. Issues with bill delivery affected more than 2.5 million more motorists. And some 6.7 million individuals just never paid, the report finds.

The Turnpike says that the loss in funds doesn't tell the whole story.

"Our 93% overall collection rate is achieved, in large part, because 86% of Pennsylvania Turnpike customers use E-ZPass today — where tolls are electronically debited from prepaid accounts," Mike Compton, the Turnpike CEO, said in a public letter last fall. "The remaining 14% are Toll By Plate customers, and leakage was anticipated from the beginning — and has been a fact of life for the PA Turnpike and toll agencies worldwide well before the introduction of All-Electronic Tolling or AET."

About 11 million individuals all told did not pay in the year ending May 31, the report states. Among those who don't use E-ZPass, there was roughly a 50 percent chance they pass through the camera system and never pay.

To read the full text of the co-sponsorship memorandum for the new bill, see here.