PA Turnpike Begins Final Phase of All-Electronic Tolling

Harrisburg, PA… The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) has begun building the final phase of its All-Electronic Tolling (AET) implementation. Work is now underway to relocate tolling points in eastern PA from their current interchange locations. New highway-speed collection points are being built along the roadway between interchanges using a technique called Open Road Tolling, or ORT — a cashless, free-flowing mode of collecting tolls without traditional toll plazas or tollbooths.

 With ORT, tolls continue to be paid electronically, but now vehicles will drive at highway speed beneath overhead structures — called gantries — located on the PA Turnpike between exit and entry points. Equipment installed on the gantry and in the roadway identifies and classifies vehicles and processes E-ZPass and Toll By Plate payments.

“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.”

 We're adding ORT because it:

* Fulfills customer expectations for seamless, convenient travel. 

* Is safer for PA Turnpike drivers and its employees — and better for the environment.

* Allows new access points (interchanges) to be added more easily and at a lower cost, enhancing mobility and reducing traffic at interchanges and on connecting roads.

* Will help save the PA Turnpike more than $75 million a year.

 The PA Turnpike is constructing 19 gantries — with small utility buildings to house the required equipment — east of the Reading Interchange (Exit 286) to the New Jersey line and along the entire Northeastern Extension (I-476).  The eastern ORT system will go live in 2025.  The ORT system for the central and western PA Turnpike roadway is expected to be built beginning in 2025, with an anticipated go-live date of 2027.

 On Sunday, April 30 the Pennsylvania State Police started to slow traffic to allow crews to begin installing toll gantries across the eastern PA Turnpike. This work will occur over the next several months.  These slowdowns — necessary to keep workers and customers safe — will occur on Sunday evenings during off-peak hours.