Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls go up 5% in January

August 4, 2022

Chuck Robinson

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Next year, tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will go up 5%.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission on Aug. 2 approved a 5% toll increase for 2023 for all E-ZPass and Toll By Plate customers. The toll increase takes effect on Jan. 8, 2023.

This is the 15th consecutive annual toll increase on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The most-common toll for a Class 5 tractor-trailer will increase from $13.70 to $14.40 for E-ZPass users and from $28 to $29.40 for Toll By Plate users, according to a turnpike news release.

“The (Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission) has been forced to increase tolls annually through the foreseeable future to meet its financial obligations under Act 44 of 2007,” commission CEO Mark Compton said in the news release.

The state’s Act 44 of 2007 requires the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to provide annual payments to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to support transportation projects statewide.

In the 15 years since Act 44 of 2007, the turnpike has transferred nearly $8 billion in funding to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, most of it in the form of bonds that must be repaid by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission over 30 years.

Until this year, the commission’s annual payment has been $450 million. This year, though as of July 1 that payment dropped to $50 million cash annually because of the passage of Pennsylvania Act 89 of 2013. However, the commission must continue to pay the bonds previously issued. The amount will grow to $600 million by 2030 before it starts to decrease, according to a statement from the turnpike commission.

OOIDA in March 2018 brought a class action lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. The Association argued that the tolls to pay for expenses other than maintaining the turnpike were an undue burden on interstate commerce and so were unconstitutional. The case was dismissed in 2019 by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. LL

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