A big change is coming to the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 2025 -- the end of tollbooths in the name of so-called "open road."
Over the summer, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission announced they're switching from stop and go tolling to open road tolling starting early in 2025. Earlier this month, the turnpike reminded drivers that the cashless tolling starts east of Reading on Jan. 5, 2025.
"Open Road Tolling (ORT) is the culmination of the PA Turnpike’s decade-long journey to modernize operations on our 565+ miles of roadway," the turnpike said in a news release. "In the ORT system, tolls are charged electronically as customers drive at highway speeds beneath overhead structures, called gantries, without slowing down or stopping at toll booths. Equipment on the gantry and in the roadway classifies and identifies the vehicle and electronically processes tolls, allowing for free-flowing traffic: which reduces accidents, improves the environment, and allows new access points."
The turnpike offered some tips for drivers:
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- E-ZPass customers should properly mount their transponder at all times.
- Pre-registered Toll by Plate customers or an E-ZPass customers should keep their vehicles, license plates and credit card information up-to-date on their accounts.
- Open an E-ZPass account to take advantage of the most cost-effective way to travel on the PA Turnpike.
A 5% toll increase also goes into effect next year.
The new ORT shouldn't impact E-ZPass users too much, the turnpike said: "Due to changes in rate structure and vehicle classification, 84% of E-ZPass trips will see a toll decrease or an increase of less than $1 in 2025 compared to 2024 rates."
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Why get rid of tollbooths?
The Turnpike Commission opted for the departure from the traditional tolls for a couple of reasons. They say open road tolling will make traveling on highways more convenient by eliminating the stop-and-go method.
Crews starting in January will also start knocking down old toll booths in the area at this time. The commission plans to expand west to the rest of the system by early 2027.
“Safety is the biggest driver," Construction Engineering Manager of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Alan Williams said over the summer of 2024. "Unfortunately we have customers that actually have sideswipe accidents with our toll plazas every day sometimes we have people that sideswipe each other because they’re trying navigate in and out of those toll plaza lanes."
Officials say that while the system captures speed information, they are not authorized to enforce speed, but the new technology will change how some people are charged.
The turnpike won't use weight as a charging factor moving forward. Instead, the cameras scan the height and number of axles, which mostly impacts commercial vehicles like trucks.
Officials say the $600 million worth of investments over the last two decades, including the new tolling system, is expected to save the Turnpike Commission about $25 million a year.
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