Audit finds Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s financial position has improved

PITTSBURGH — An audit found that the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s financial position has improved, but there’s work to be done on debt management.

Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor released the performance audit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission on Friday and said a lot has improved since the first one in 2022.

“The [Turnpike] Commission has worked with the legislature to implement our recommendation to make it harder for drivers to dodge their toll bills, made headway on its debt payments, and improved its credit rating,” he said.

Debt remains a concern, largely because Acts 44 and 89 require the Turnpike Commission to pay PennDOT an additional $1.6 billion through 2057.

The audit, which covers June 1, 2022, through May 31, 2025, has five findings, which are listed below.

Finding 1: Auditors found that the Commission continues to face significant challenges to raise toll revenue to make future payments to PennDOT under the Act 44/89 financial structure, associated debt payments, and capital contributions.
Finding 2: Auditors found toll increases driven by Act 44/89 continue to burden travelers, including the need for the Commission to annually increase toll rates through 2055. However, since the annual payment to PennDOT decreased, the Commission’s credit rating has improved, and they have been able to invest in the Turnpike’s future improvement beyond maintenance.
Finding 3: Auditors found the implementation of Open Road Tolling (ORT) resulted in a mix of increases and decreases to both passenger and commercial vehicles’ toll rates. However, by implementing the new formula, the Commission aligned the Turnpike with the industry standards that base tolls on the number of vehicle axles and vehicle height.
Finding 4: Auditors found that the Commission has seen a significant increase in bad debt expense and the amounts reported for uncollected and unbillable tolls since the implementation of all electronic tolling in June 2020. The Commission had $229 million still owed to it from June 2024 to May 2025 from in-state and out-of-state travelers.
Finding 5: Auditors found that the Commission must continue to seek new ways to collect tolls from travelers. Although the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the Commission implemented additional toll collection enforcement methods since our prior audit report, we found those efforts did not result in the actual collection of outstanding tolls.

There are also 19 recommendations, which DeFoor says are meant to help improve the financial status of the Turnpike and collect the money it is owed.

Some of the recommendations include putting together a task force with the goal of enacting legislation to mitigate debt, making it easier for travelers to pay tolls and finding ways to attach unpaid bills to travelers’ credit scores.

Click here for a breakdown of the audit.

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