PA Turnpike to send text messages about unpaid tolls

PITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Turnpike will soon start sending out text messages to drivers who have unpaid tolls.

The Turnpike Commission says this is part of a pilot program to crack down on drivers who aren’t paying their bills and to let them know before they are sent to a collections agency.

But as Channel 11 has reported, there has been no shortage of scams involving text messages that appear to come from the Turnpike.

In fact, every single driver we talked to on Monday said they are skeptical about the Turnpike’s plan to push out text messages to drivers who have unpaid tolls.

“I’d be thinking it’s a scam,” Kathy Yearian tells Channel 11. “I’d ignore it.”

“I think text messages in general are a bad idea,” Josh Huth added. “There are scams like that going on all the time.”

The Turnpike Commission says they have $240 million in unpaid tolls from 2025 that they want to recoup. Come June or July, the Commission will be pushing out text messages to drivers with unpaid tolls as part of a six-month pilot program.

The Turnpike Commission says it’s still working on the exact wording, but before text messages are sent out, the Turnpike will clearly communicate:

What the text message will say
When the texts will go out
The phone number from which the messages will come from

Drivers we talked to had strong opinions.

“If they’re able to contact us now, why do you need text messages?” Huth added.

“They might want to think of another way to do it,” Yearian said. “I think a lot of people are wary right now of things they get on their texts. You have to be careful.”

The Better Business Bureau of Western Pennsylvania says these messages won’t go out until the summer, so if you get one now, it’s likely a scammer trying to cash in.

“It’s important to remember, regardless, if you have an unpaid toll, you’re going to still receive that notification through the mail first,” Caitlin Driscoll, a spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau of Western PA tells Channel 11.

The BBB says when in doubt, go straight to the source:

“If you receive any kind of text message and they want you to click on a link, to provide personal information, payment details from this link, it’s still important to verify through the source,” Driscoll adds. “ Log in to your EZ Pass account, call the phone number directly.”

The Turnpike says all month, they’re also working with state police to crack down on drivers who have suspended registrations because of unpaid tolls.

Channel 11 previously spoke with Attorney General Dave Sunday about those efforts. Click here to read about that operation.

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