Turnpike officials cite Act 44 bond payments, outline open-road tolling rollout and collections work

Pennsylvania Turnpike officials told the House Transportation Committee on March 17 that long-term bond obligations under Act 44 and system changes tied to the shift to open-road tolling are driving recent and planned toll increases, and described steps the commission is taking on collections, vehicle classification and sustainability projects.

Mark (Turnpike official) told committee members that the turnpike "does consider ourselves a key economic driver here for the Commonwealth" and detailed the commission's capital and operating budgets as context for rate decisions.

The commission said about 550,000 motorists use the turnpike each day and the agency is managing an approximately $600,000,000 capital plan and a roughly $400,000,000 annual operating budget that pays more than 1,400 employees. Officials said Act 44 — enacted in 2007 — required large annual payments to the state and that the turnpike's debt service tied to those obligations remains a principal reason for toll increases. The agency said the largest bond payments will continue for years as the commission meets its contractual obligations under that statute.

Craig Shuey, a turnpike official who led the presentation on open-road tolling, said the agency converted sections of the system to all-electronic tolling beginning with pilot projects in 2016, accelerated in 2020, and activated additional open-road segments in January. "We're at 87.3% of our transactions; 12.7% are toll-by-plate," Shuey said, describing E‑ZPass penetration and the remaining toll-by-plate volumes the commission must collect from by-mail invoices and other channels.

Shuey said the commission moved from a weight-based tolling structure to a classification system using axle/height profiles, expanding from nine to 11 classes to reduce the impact on passenger vehicles that tow small recreational trailers while treating larger commercial vehicles differently. He said that change, combined with a 5% adjustment applied in the conversion period, produced gains for some drivers and larger increases for others depending on where they travel and their vehicle classification.

Officials described multiple operational efforts to reduce unpaid tolls and improve collections: improving plate reads and image quality, working with DMVs to update addresses, holding/retrying invoices to match registration cycles, and using collection agencies. The commission said it has cut certain address and unreadable-image issues since launch (22% and 27% reductions were cited) and reported a 71% reduction in one collection category after process changes. The commission said collections from contracted agencies yielded about 16.7% in 2024 and that some months reached as high as 25%.

On the scale of unpaid transactions, an official told the committee that unpaid tolls represent about 4.5% of transactions and that the 12‑month rolling dollar amount of unpaid tolls is approaching $200,000,000. The commission said it is pursuing civil enforcement against out-of-state debtors and pursuing reciprocity agreements with other jurisdictions; New York was identified as the most interested partner, while Delaware and New Jersey have more limited or not-yet-implemented arrangements.

Committee members asked about E‑ZPass account requirements and fees. When asked why the system requires a minimum account balance (commonly $35) and a processing fee (commonly $3 per tag), Shuey said the balance helps ensure the agency can pay other states for travelers' valid E‑ZPass transactions and reduces frequent small credit-card charges that would otherwise increase processing costs. He said the commission is reviewing account and back-office procedures and may change fee structures to encourage more transponder use.

On law-enforcement uses of plate reads, Shuey said the commission has piloted license-plate-reader technology on overhead structures separate from the tolling back office, and is working with the Pennsylvania State Police to expand that capability. He said that setup allows real-time reads for enforcement purposes — including suspended registrations and AMBER or other alerts — while keeping the toll-collection process distinct from roadside law-enforcement systems.

Officials also described sustainability and non-toll revenue efforts: the commission said it has one microgrid operating (returning revenue to the system), another under construction, and plans EV charging at its 17 service plazas within about two years. The presentation referenced discussions with large commercial customers about future in-road charging and other innovations.

Committee members pressed for additional data. The commission said it would share more detailed breakdowns on unpaid tolls by in-state and out-of-state accounts, provide historical comparisons of toll-per-mile, and supply figures on E‑ZPass unused balances on request.

No formal votes or committee actions were recorded during the informational hearing.

(Reporting note: direct quotes and numeric figures in this article are taken from committee testimony and the turnpike presentation.)