The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has announced plans to eliminate toll booths and implement open-road tolling (ORT) across the state. The eastern and northeastern extensions of the turnpike will begin using ORT in 2025, with the entire system expected to transition by 2027.
ORT is a cashless, free-flowing mode of toll collection that allows drivers to pass through toll plazas without stopping. Overhead structures, known as gantries, will capture license plates and E-ZPass transponders for billing as vehicles pass beneath them at highway speeds.
"Open Road Tolling is the culmination of the PA Turnpike’s decade-long journey to modernize operations and meet customer expectations for seamless, nonstop travel,” said PA Turnpike CEO Mark Compton. “ORT is a safer, more convenient way for customers to travel and represents the future of toll collection worldwide.”(paturnpike.com)
The PTC states that ORT will reduce accidents, ease congestion, and lower CO2 emissions. Following the 2020 conversion to cashless tolling, there was a 45% systemwide reduction in CO2 emissions, and the new technology is expected to reduce it by another 7%.(wgal.com)
The transition to ORT began over a decade ago with the implementation of All-Electronic Tolling in 2020. The PTC is constructing 19 gantries east of the Reading Interchange to the New Jersey line and along the entire Northeastern Extension. The central and western PA Turnpike roadway is expected to begin construction in 2025.(paturnpike.com)