How high will Pa. Turnpike fares go? (And other numbers you should know)

$11.8 billion is the level of outstanding debt the state’s original cross-state toll road is shouldering.

• Charles Thompson/PennLive
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  Thompson has covered state government for The Patriot since 1999. Prior to that, he had covered various Cumberland County municipalities and school districts. Thompson lives in Carlisle with his wife, Beth, and their two children.

(Harrisburg) — The Pennsylvania Turnpike is increasingly becoming known for high fares and higher debt loads, thanks in no small part to policy decisions made more than a decade ago to ask the toll road to help pay for other transportation systems around the state.

Here’s a look at some of the numbers that the highway’s operators, state officials and motorists are contending with:

$11.8 billion: This is the level of outstanding debt the state’s original cross-state toll road is shouldering.

It’s on track to exceed all the debt on the books assigned to the rest of state government by next year, and some $6.1 billion of that is directly attributable to the 2007 law passed by legislators and signed into law by then-Gov. Ed Rendell that required the Turnpike – initially intended to simply pay for itself (with your toll dollars) – to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars a year to other statewide transportation needs.

$1.45 billion: This is the total revenue collected by the Turnpike Commission in FY 2018, which ended last May 31.

That money is the total of all fares collected, lease agreements with concessionaires, investment earnings and other capital contributions from gas taxes and motor vehicle registrations.

$1.25 billion: Projected toll revenue in the current fiscal year.

By far the biggest share of the revenue pie, this also means that motorists will continue to bear the lion’s share of the costs to come.

$670.4 million: Bond payments the Turnpike is scheduled to make in the current fiscal year.

A recent report by Auditor General Eugene DePasquale notes that while the Turnpike’s consultants believe the highway will be able to make its steadily escalating payments through the next 20 years, it’s a “fragile balance” that could be wrecked by driver resistance to steadily-escalating tolls, recessions, fuel price spikes or other developments that cut into expected traffic volumes.

The mounting debt load has also required a scaling back of Turnpike capital projects.

608 of 2018: The federal class-action suit filed by independent truckers that seeks to stop Pennsylvania’s practice of using toll collections for purposes other the maintenance and operation of the tolled toads.

This pending case has policy-makers crossing their fingers about the viability of the 2007 transportation funding transfer plan for entirely different reasons.

$494.7 million: The Turnpike Commission’s projected operating expenses in the current fiscal year.

Backing out tax revenues reserved for capital projects, DePasquale’s latest report suggests that the Turnpike Commission will have a surplus of about $32 million after covering its operating expenses and loan repayments.

201.2 million: The number of motorist trips on the Turnpike in 2018.

The traffic mix was 172.5 million passenger cars, and 28.7 million trucks and other commercial vehicles. The traffic count has increased in eight of the last nine years. Through the end of February, it was showing growth of 1.8 percent this year.

The growth rate in traffic volume has flattened considerably, however, since a major toll increase in 2004.

1.7 million: The approximate number of non-payment notices sent out to motorists who used the road but didn’t pay tolls so far this year. That’s already exceeded last year’s total of 1,619,000, with more than two months left in the fiscal year.

Under current state law, repeat violators can have their vehicle registrations suspended with six violations, or an aggregate balance due of $500 or more. In some of the worst cases, felony theft of service charges have been filed.

The more aggressive collection efforts appear to be having some positive effect. The Turnpike brought in more in back tolls ($87.7 million) than it registered in new unpaid notices ($83.2 million) during fiscal 2018.

$73.4 million: What the Turnpike Commission spends yearly on maintenance of its 552-mile system.

40: According to current plans, the number of consecutive years motorists are expected to see toll increases on the Turnpike. The current schedule runs through 2048.

$26.29 / $37: The current fares via EZ-Pass and cash, respectively, for a passenger vehicle trip from Pittsburgh to Valley Forge.

Worth noting: While there are many toll roads across America that are more expensive on a cost-per-mile basis, most of those are much shorter routes that are comprised of time-saving express lanes, or bypasses built to bypass congested arteries in major metro areas.

But the Pennsylvania Turnpike is already one of the highest, cross-state thoroughfares in the nation. Of our neighbors, only the New Jersey Turnpike’s EZ-Pass rates cost more.

$75.49 / $106.25: Projected fares, again via EZ-Pass and cash, for that same trip in 2048. As a point of reference, the Pittsburgh-to-Valley Forge trip cost $15.25 in 2008.

Here’s a visual look at the current schedule of rate increases across all motorist categories.

5,859: The number of Turnpike employees, contractors, consultants, state police and others who have been granted access to use the Turnpike for free. According to DePasquale’s latest report, the free-riders used about an average of about $2.8 million per year.

The access is primarily meant for business use, but the Turnpike Commission officials have argued that it is important for their staff to have “round-the-clock” access to the highway.

82.6: The percentage of all Turnpike fare transactions that are now billed electronically through EZ-Pass or other forms of automated collection.

66: The current number of toll interchanges.

17: The current number of service plazas, where motorists can fill up their tanks, buy a Pennsylvania t-shirt, or get an Auntie Anne’s soft pretzel.

5: The number of mountain tunnels.

 

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