OOIDA asks court to stop Pennsylvania toll revenue transfers by end of month

April 3, 2018

Tyson Fisher

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A few weeks after filing a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission for excessive tolls, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has asked the court to immediately stop the commission from transferring any money for purposes not related to the turnpike while the case is pending.

On Monday, OOIDA filed the motion for preliminary injunction in its lawsuit against the turnpike commission. The motion requests that the defendants be prohibited from these actions:

  • Transferring to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation any further sums derived from Pennsylvania Turnpike toll revenue to satisfy the commission’s obligations under Act 44/89 or for any other purpose except operating, maintaining, or improving the Turnpike;
  • Using any sums derived from such toll revenue to pay the cost of debt service for any bonds issued by PTC for any purpose other than operating, maintaining, or improving the Turnpike; and
  • Issuing or causing to be issued additional bonds or other debt obligations for the purpose of making further payments to PennDOT pursuant to Act 44/89.

OOIDA requests that the motion be granted before April 30, the same date the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is required to make Act 44/89 transfer payments to PennDOT. Interest payments on bonds previously issued are due June 1.

“The requested preliminary injunction is intended to preserve the status quo and prevent plaintiffs from suffering irreparable harm, which will surely occur unless funds collected by PTC during the course of this litigation from excessive tolls imposed upon the plaintiffs are safeguarded until the litigation is concluded,” the court document reads.

The requested preliminary injunctive relief would not require any change in the active toll schedules until the conclusion of the litigation.

In the lawsuit filed on March 15, OOIDA and the National Motorists Association are challenging the constitutionality of the imposition of excessive tolls by PTC. OOIDA claims that tolls, or “user fees,” become an undue burden on commerce once the amount is greater than a fair approximation of the value of the use of the facility.

The lawsuit also claims that PTC toll rates are used to pay for state projects that have nothing to do with the turnpike, including operations, maintenance or improvements. OOIDA is evoking the Commerce Clause in its case.

Four trucking companies and two Pennsylvania residents who drive a private vehicle also are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, the transfer of Interstate 80 to PTC was never implemented since the Federal Highway Administration never granted its approval to convert the interstate to a toll road. Regardless, the agreement moved on and was eventually implemented.

Legislation required PTC to make payments to PennDOT in the amounts of $750 million in FY 2007-08, $850 million in 2008-09 and $900 million in 2009-10. From 2011 to 2022 the payments are reduced to $450 million a year. Payments are further reduced to $50 million from 2023 to the end of the agreement in 2057. In total, PTC will pay PennDOT $9.65 billion, with nearly $6 billion of that already paid.

OOIDA points to a 2016 audit that reveals Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission payments have been dedicated solely to nonhighway purposes, including transit. In 2008, the commission announced a large toll rate increase since revenue was going elsewhere. According to a 2008 commission news release, the 2009 increase “will largely be used by PennDOT to help finance off-Turnpike road and bridge projects and the state’s 74 mass-transit operations.” PTC said more than 90 percent of the increase will go to non-Turnpike projects.

“If those programs have value, however, they should be paid for by taxpayers,” the lawsuit states. “Funding these projects with toll receipts violates constitutional protections guaranteed to users of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.”

In regards to the excessive costs, OOIDA points out that since 2011 revenues generated by PTC tolls have totaled to more than 200 percent of the operation and maintenance costs of the Pennsylvania Turnpike System. With toll revenues twice as much as needed, OOIDA argues that the tolls are being used as a revenue-generating machine for PennDOT to use for unrelated projects.

“Truckers and motorists are not ATMs to fund everything under the sun,” said Todd Spencer, acting president and CEO of OOIDA. “The ongoing, economic drain on unsuspecting turnpike users is the epitome of highway robbery.”

A 2016 performance audit of PTC from Pennsylvania’s auditor general found that “annual costly toll increases place an undue burden on Pennsylvanians.” The audit called toll increases “unsustainable” and eventually “the average turnpike traveler will be deterred by the increased cost and seek alternative toll-free routes.”

“The right to move freely, by automobile, is implicit in the concept of ordered liberty and finds ample support in the Commerce Clause, the Privileges and Immunities Clause, and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” the lawsuit says.

Of the nearly 200 million vehicles that traveled on the turnpike in the fiscal year ending May 31, 2015, more than 86 percent were Class 1 passenger vehicles. However, the lawsuit estimates that about half of the annual toll revenues came from trucks, which represent less than 15 percent of total traffic. Trucks generated approximately $443 million in PTC toll revenue in 2016.

OOIDA and NMA are seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, damages and other relief deemed appropriate. The associations are requesting that any damages awarded be paid by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission rather than the state.