John Brady can’t figure out why the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission keeps raising tolls.
“It’s just hard to justify the hike every single year. You would think they would do it every other year,” said Brady, of Hampton, who travels with his wife, Deb, from the Butler Valley exit to the Pittsburgh exit to visit family in Wilkins. The turnpike helps the Bradys avoid the Parkway North into Pittsburgh and the inevitable delays on the Parkway East at the Squirrel Hill Tunnel.
The Bradys and millions of others who travel the turnpike will pay more beginning Sunday, when tolls jump by 4%. The 4% hike is the lowest in 12 years, according to the turnpike commission.
Fares have increased each of the past 17 years and are expected to continue to rise until 2050. The hikes were blamed on the turnpike commission’s requirement under Act 44 to pay PennDOT $450 million a year. That total has since dropped, and the turnpike commission since 2022 has given PennDOT $50 million a year and used the toll increases to pay down debt.
Act 44 was designed to help fund statewide transportation projects without raising taxes. But, after the cornerstone of the plan to convert Interstate 80 into a toll road was denied by the Federal Highway Administration, a default clause took effect that required the turnpike commission’s annual payments to PennDOT.
Since 2008, the turnpike commission has provided more than $8 billion to the state for funding PennDOT, the commission said.
This all means higher costs for drivers.
The increase raises tolls by seven cents for E-ZPass users traveling between the Allegheny Valley exit in Harmar and the Pittsburgh interchange in Monroeville, from $1.72 to $1.79. It raises the total to $3.58 from $3.44 for those opting for toll-by-plate.
It’s also a seven-cent increase for those traveling from the Irwin interchange to the Pittsburgh exit — $1.79 to $1.86 for E-ZPass users. The tally is 14 cents more expensive using toll-by-plate — $3.72 from $3.58 between those exits.
Traveling the length of the turnpike in a car or SUV from the Ohio line to the New Jersey line will cost $54.56 for E-ZPass users and $109.12 for toll-by-plate. That same trip cost just over $21 in 2004.
The toll-by-plate system, in which a bill is mailed to drivers, was implemented by the turnpike commission as an alternative for those not using E-ZPass. The turnpike went cashless in June 2020.
Tolls are expected to increase 3.5% in 2027 and 3% annually from 2028 to 2050, the turnpike commission said.
“We’re getting it down to inflation (rate) by 2028,” said Marissa Orbanek, a turnpike commission spokeswoman.
Contrary to popular perception, Pennsylvania does not have the most expensive toll road in the country.
The state’s E-ZPass rates are the 20th highest out of the country’s 47 state toll roads and fall two cents below the national average of 19 cents per mile for a passenger vehicle, according to the turnpike commission.
Despite higher toll costs, the turnpike continues to see its traffic volume increase — it’s within 5% of the pre-covid-19 pandemic peaks — and commercial traffic is up 12.3% above pre-pandemic levels, Orbanek said.
“Commercial vehicles continue to be the turnpike’s most dependable revenue source, with about 50% of the turnpike’s total toll revenue coming from commercial vehicles,” the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, a trucking industry group, states on its website.
Avoiding the turnpike isn’t an option for Christian Bertic of Green Tree. A district supervisor of an industrial chemical company, Bertic travels to the York and Philadelphia areas to service accounts.
“It’s truly the only option,” to travel across the state, he said.
Paying more to travel the turnpike is an added business expense, as well, because the work can’t be done virtually.
“It cuts into our business and our profit,” Bertic said.
