January 02, 2025
Provided Image/Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
The Pennsylvania Turnpike will activate 18 electronic overhead structures on Sunday, Jan. 5, that will be used to replace toll booths. The gantries use E-ZPass or toll-by-plate to bill motorists.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is flipping the switch to all-electronic tolling in the eastern part of the state this weekend, letting drivers pay while traveling at highway speeds instead of slowing down at booths.
Nineteen overhead structures, known as gantries, have been installed on the Northeast Extension of Interstate 476 and on I-76 east of the Reading Interchange at Exit 286 to the New Jersey line, and 18 of them will be activated at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.
The open road tolling (ORT) system uses sensors to scan vehicles electronically as they pass underneath. Drivers are charged through E-ZPass or the turnpike's toll-by-plate system, which sends an invoice to the vehicle's owner.
Motorists are encouraged to properly mount their E-ZPass transponders inside their vehicles and keep their license plate and credit card information up to date on their E-ZPass or toll-by-plate accounts to prepare for the transition.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is demolishing and removing toll plazas in the eastern section beginning this year. Booths will still be active alongside the gantries until they are removed.
Construction on gantries in the western section is underway, and a January 2027 launch is planned. Over $600 million has been invested in the planning, design, construction and demolition to shift to the ORT. When the program is complete, the Turnpike Commission expects the investment to save at least $25 million a year in operation and maintenance costs.
A scheduled annual toll increase that amounts to a 5% boost in revenue will begin Jan. 5, but not all drivers will be affected. The turnpike is moving from a weight-based system to one that uses the vehicle's height and number of axles.
Under the new rate standardization, EZ-Pass users pay $0.07 per mile plus a $1.09 fee for every segment between interchanges. Toll-by-plate customers pay double the rate, and vehicles in higher classes (such as buses and trucks) pay a multiple of the base rate. Sensors in the gantries and embedded in the pavement scan the vehicles to determine their height and axles.
As a result of the change, nearly 50% of passenger car trips will have a lower toll rate in 2025 than in previous years, though about 70% of commercial vehicles may see an increase of $5 or less, turnpike commissioners said. An online toll calculator tool gives travelers the estimated cost based on their planned trip and vehicle.
