A decade of toll increases have made Turnpike unaffordable
When the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission was formed in 1937, its task was to build a 160-mile highway that stretched from Carlisle to Irwin.
That road opened in 1940 and subsequent expansions followed, connecting the entire state on the mainline turnpike.
But as those bonds were paid off through toll fares – a penny a mile was the original cost – the Turnpike Commission was supposed to eventually disband and convert the highway into a free interstate for motorists. But as the Turnpike found more projects to fund – Northeast Extension, Mon-Fayette Expressway and Southern Beltway, to just name a few – tolls increased, and the commission became more entrenched in the state.
But those occasional rate increases were chump change compared to what happened when Act 44 went into effect in January 2009.
The initiative, passed by the state Legislature in 2007, was heralded as a way for transportation officials to find a sustainable revenue system for major infrastructure projects in Pennsylvania. Instead, it has turned into a boondoggle for the motorists and a slush fund for road projects.
The original funding plans would have tolled Interstate 80 or privatized the Pennsylvania Turnpike. But when those fell through, another plan was hatched for regular toll increases on the turnpike, with some of the money being funneled to the state Department of Transportation to boost infrastructure projects and struggling mass transit systems.
What has followed with annual toll increases year after year has made the turnpike unaffordable to drive.
With the latest 6 percent toll increase last month, it now costs $56.50 to drive the 360 miles on the mainline Turnpike from the Ohio portal in Pennsylvania’s western border to the Bensalem exit, a suburb just north of Philadelphia. Even with -Z-Pass, which is designed to be more efficient and save drivers money, it still costs more than $40.
That’s an eye-popping number and more than double what it cost before the first rate increases began a decade ago.
The legislation mandated that the Turnpike Commission provide annual $450 million contributions to PennDOT for “broader Commonwealth transportation needs,” and it has made about $6.1 billion in payments in the past decade.
But Act 44 was amended in November 2013 with the subsequent passage of Act 89, which offered additional revenue streams in the form of increases to the state’s gasoline tax and various license and registration fees. But that also lowered the contributions the Turnpike must pay the state after 2022 to just $50 million per year as the original law is being ratcheted down.
Still, that’s not helping motorists when they reach into their pocketbooks to pay the fare.
“Parts of our roadway are 78 years old, and we owe it to customers, who pay a premium to travel, to invest in our road and make it safer, smoother and wider,” Turnpike CEO Mark Compton said last month.
He said 84 percent of the Turnpike’s $552 million capital budget will be used for “renewing, rebuilding and widening our highway” that includes various upgrades.
Some of those upgrades include widening the mainline Turnpike in the middle of the state. Locally, the most important project is the extension of the Southern Beltway, which will eventually connect traffic from Interstate 79 near the Southpointe interchange to Pittsburgh International Airport.
The price tag for various Turnpike projects across the state are in the billions, which means motorists can continue to expect more toll hikes even as the payments to PennDOT begin “sun setting” in three years.
So don’t expect the Turnpike Commission to go away anytime soon, or at all. But one thing is for certain: It’ll just keep getting more and more expensive to drive on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
– Observer-Reporter