All-electronic tolls planned for PA turnpike

(Harrisburg) -- The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission says it plan to convert the Turnpike into all-electronic tolls that charge motorists without requiring them to drive through toll plazas.

The turnpike's acting chief executive officer Craig Shuey has told a joint House and Senate Transportation Committee hearing the five-year project is the most ambitious of its kind in the nation.

He also says it'll be the most significant change in how the turnpike operates since it opened in 1940.

The existing network of toll plazas would be replaced with overhead ``gantries'' that straddle travel lanes.

Tolls would automatically be deducted from E-ZPass accounts and the license plates of other vehicles would be photographed so bills could be sent to their owners.

Consultants made the recommendation in a report earlier this year.