The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission plans to convert its tolling system to open road tolling east of Reading and on the Northeast Extension in January 2025. This caps a 15-year transition to increase safe, convenient and seamless travel.

“The advent of open road tolling will advance safety and allow for the safe movement of vehicle traffic across our network. Pennsylvania is the great American Getaway and open road tolling will get traveling members of the public to destinations across our great Commonwealth in a safe an efficient manner,” said Pa. Turnpike chairman and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation secretary Michael Carroll.

In an open road tolling system, tolls are charged electronically as customers drive at highway speeds without slowing down or stopping beneath overhead structures — called gantries — located between interchanges.

Equipment on the gantry and in the roadway processes E-ZPass or Toll-By-Plate transactions. Beyond properly mounting an E-ZPass transponder, customers will not need to do anything differently in preparation for the launch.

In March 2020, the Turnpike converted from a ticket and electronic hybrid tolling model to all-electronic tolling. The open road tolling conversion ensures “America’s First Superhighway” continues to be the national standard for highway design and engineering.

“Open road tolling is the most significant innovation for our customers, our employees, our roadway and the Commonwealth in our 85-year history,” said Pa. Turnpike CEO Mark Compton. “It represents the future of toll collection nationwide, increases access and mobility across the Commonwealth, promotes safety and reliability and better supports our environment.”

Open road tolling allows for the addition of new access points at a significantly lower cost. This will enable economic development to communities along the turnpike.

Construction of a new fiber optic network spanning the entire footprint of the mainline Turnpike that supports open road tolling operations, extends the possibility of high-speed connectivity to neighboring communities, who remain in need of this service and increases access to underserved communities.

Open road tolling also eliminates the confusion and lane switching associated with traditional, stop-and-go tolling. And removal of toll booths removes obstacles and increases sight lines for customers reducing stress and distraction when entering and exiting the system.

Pa. Turnpike COO Craig Shuey said, “We’ve already seen a significant reduction of accidents at locations where we’ve transitioned from traditional toll plazas and look forward to that continuing across our system as we implement Open Road Tolling.”

Nonstop travel also means lower emissions, less fuel use, and a cleaner environment. The Pennsylvania Turnpike’s transition to cashless tolling in 2020 resulted in a 45% systemwide reduction in CO2 emissions, or about 65 tons of CO2 emissions per year. Open road tolling is anticipated to further reduce CO2 emissions by another 7% by 2030, or about 11 tons of CO2 emissions per year.

The Turnpike will begin removing toll plazas in the eastern sections in 2025. Open road tolling construction west of Reading is getting underway, and it will be fully operational there in early 2027.

Earlier this month, the Turnpike commissioners approved a 5% toll increase due to ongoing debt repayment, in accordance with our Act 44 financial plan. In preparation for open road tolling, the January 2025 toll schedule moves the Turnpike to a consistent per-mile rate. It also changes how vehicles are classified from weight-based to axle and height under Automated Vehicle Classification, which follows national standards for vehicle classification. Both changes increase predictability and consistency. The new toll schedule goes into effect Jan. 5, 2025.

The Turnpike will have invested a little more than $600 million over the course of nearly 20 years into the planning, design, civil infrastructure and new tolling system construction and demolition associated with open road tolling. This investment is expected to save the Commission at least $25 million per year in future maintenance and operating costs.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is the second largest tolling facility in the United States with the most miles and offers 24/7 roadside assistance, a dedicated maintenance force, 17 service plazas for safety and convenience, and a dedicated State Police Troop. Roughly 550,000 customers use the roadway daily.

For more information on open road tolling including a map of gantry locations, go to pacast.com.