The Pennsylvania Turnpike’s massive changeover to open road tolling is nearly complete. Open road tolling will launch system-wide on Jan. 3.
“We will flip the switch literally and will be tolling you at the gantries on the main line, no longer at the interchange,” said Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission CEO Mark Compton. “Cash has not been taken on the system for the last several years. This really is just a change in where we’re tolling.”
Drivers will not notice any physical changes at first. The large gantries over the toll road have been in place for several months in New Stanton. They hold several cameras that overlook the turnpike. The cameras capture the front and back of every passing vehicle.
Officials estimate it will be a couple more years before all the toll booths across the state are demolished and removed.
Open road tolling has already been operational in the eastern part of the state for the last couple of years.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike said the cost of the project, stretching from Somerset to the Ohio state line, is $134 million.
That covers the full project, including building the system, eliminating the toll booths and reconfiguring the interchanges. The work is expected to wrap up in the next few years.
Once fully implemented, the Pennsylvania Turnpike said open road tolling will save $25 million annually.
Ahead of the changeover, Compton is urging drivers to mount their E-ZPass transponder to their windshields.
The turnpike said the project will ultimately create a safer driving experience and could allow for new access points, like the newly planned exit on Route 981 in Mt. Pleasant.
“They’re being tolled at highway speeds so they don’t have to slow down. The other big benefit is there’s nothing they have to do in order to start participating in the ORT process. There’s nothing new,” said Matt McConnell, manager of toll systems technologies.
McConnell said there’s a fiber-optic network across the entire system and a robust security system in place.
“All of that information is stored here locally but then also transferred back to our back office in Harrisburg where all the processing happens for billing,” he explained.
He also explained the images from the cameras will not be used to flag speeding or track vehicles for police.
“All of our images that are captured are strictly for tolling. We don’t use them for anything else. No enforcement. We’re not sending them to the state police,” he said.
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