The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is scheduled to vote on another toll rate increase on Wednesday. It would be a five percent hike in turnpike tolls, and incoming Turnpike Commissioner Keith Leaphart says tolls will continue to increase each year through 2053. But he says the size of the increases will continue to go down. By 2028, he expects they will fall to three percent.
The annual toll increases are a result of enormous debts for the operation of the 360-mile highway. Rates have gone up for fifteen straight years as the Turnpike Commission pays for its obligations, which include payments to PennDOT and for capital problems. It’s also looking for ways to reduce “leakage” as Leaphart refers to toll cheaters. There is a six to seven percent leakage rate each year, accounting for $105 million in lost revenues.
The new turnpike toll rates, if approved on Wednesday, would take effect on January 7th of next year.
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