PA Turnpike All-Electronic Tolling System Nearly Complete

HARRISBURG, PA — The Pennsylvania Turnpike is approaching completion of its new all-electronic tolling system that will replace traditional toll plazas and tollboths across the state. The adjustment comes after multimillion dollar losses from toll-by-plate camera technology and exorbitant increases in tolls that have been heavily criticized by lawmakers.

The new cashless, stop-less tolling method is part Open Road Tolling, and involves constructing new collection points along roads. The Turnpike said Tuesday that they're now in the final phase of its construction, with the eastern part of the state expected to be fully electronic by 2025.

“Open Road Tolling is the culmination of the PA Turnpike’s decade-long journey to modernize operations and meet customer expectations for seamless, nonstop travel,” PA Turnpike CEO Mark Compton said in a statement. “ORT is a safer, more convenient way for customers to travel and represents the future of toll collection worldwide.”

Motorists will be able to drive at typical highways speeds while passing underneath structures called "gantries" that identify and classify vehicles and payments owed based on E-ZPass and toll-by-plate information.

It's not yet clear how the future elimination of tolling plazas will further impact the Turnpike's workforce, or if additional layoffs are anticipated. Some 500 workers were already laid off in 2020 when the Turnpike formalized its committment to all-electronic tolling under heavy revenue losses during the pandemic.

"We had been planning for the conversion for more than a decade, but COVID necessitated an earlier trigger," a spokesperson for the Turnpike told Patch Wednesday. "Impacted employees were prepared with training, employment counseling and a means to access other state jobs."

The spokesperson added that "a number of former toll collectors also found jobs within the organization" but it's not clear what that number is.

The Turnpike said the new collection method would be more convenient and safer for travelers — and that removing tolling plazas will ultimately save the Turnpike more than $75 million a year.

A total of 19 gantries will be installed acros the Turnpike, with small utility buildings attached to house the required eqipment. While the eastern half will be complete and live by 2025, the western half has a slated completion date of 2027.

The Turnpike said they've been moving toward this new system since 2010, when they began implementing pilot ORT projects on small parts of the roadway.

The move comes as the Turnpike faces increased scrutiny over its controversial collection practices. Lawmakers are trying to stop the Turnpike from charging exorbitant rates to customers who don't have a E-ZPass, citing unfair procedures that force residents who barely use the Turnpike to either pay enormous fees or buy an E-ZPass for just a handful of trips a year.

The effort came in response Turnpike's Toll By Plate program, for which the Turnpike increased tolls by 45 percent. Lawmakers say the Turnpike failed to notify the Pennsylvania General Assembly of this surcharge plan.

"This massive tolling increase unfairly targets Pennsylvania motorists," State Rep. Ed Neilson (D-Philadelphia) said in a co-sponsorship memorandum for a bill that would require change to Turnpike policy. "This tolling increase effectively forces my constituents to get an E-ZPass or pay significantly higher rates, even if they only travel our toll roads a few times per year to visit family."

And even having an E-ZPass does not protect motorists from skyrocketing costs. The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission found that for a driver heading from the Scudder Falls Bridge in Bucks County into Trenton, New Jersey, they would have to pay 40 percent more if they have a Pennsylvania E-ZPass than a New Jersey E-ZPass.

Neilson added that the lack of communication from the Turnpike Commission came despite the agency recently tesitifying on their all-electronic tolling system before the Pennsylvania House and Senate Transportation Committees. The legislature needs to "fix these unfair practices before they continue to spiral out of control," he added.

Neilson's proposed fix is simple: make Pennsylvania follow the same tolling process for out-of-state E-ZPass holders as all of the other states surrounding it. The bill would require the Turnpike Commission to charge out-of-state E-ZPass holders a higher rate.

The Turnpike lost $104 million in uncollected tolls from June 2020 to May 2021. 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.

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. The attempt to recoup massive losses came amid historic inflation rates and a looming recession.

In the wake of that report, the legislature passed a bill drastically cutting the threshold for vehicle registration suspensions following unpaid tolls and fees, from $500 to just $250. The Turnpike says that so far, they've collected $11.4 million in tolls and fees by suspending more than 23,000 vehicle registrations through a partnership with PennDOT.

That new legislation came despite the Turnpike's decision to increase tolls by another 6 percent in 2023, in addition to the major toll hikes for non E-ZPass holders addressed by Neilson's legislation.