Driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike once again is going to be more expensive next year.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission recently approved a 5% increase on tolls for 2023, the 15th straight year tolls have been increased on the 360-mile highway. Prior to 2009, the commission had raised tolls only five times since 1940.

And the annual increases won’t end anytime soon. Revenue projections created by the turnpike commission have recommended future annual toll increases of 5% through 2025, 4% in 2026, 3.5% in 2027 and then a 3% annual increase from 2028 until 2050.

Since 2007, the turnpike commission has provided nearly $8 billion to PennDOT to fund statewide transportation projects across the state. About 85% of toll revenue is used for reconstruction and widening projects that go beyond basic maintenance, such as adding lanes, renovating sections of the highway and building new interchanges.

A 5% increase in tolls may not seem like much — raising the most-common toll for a passenger vehicle from $1.70 to $1.80 for E-ZPass customers and from $4.10 to $4.40 for toll by plate customers — but nonetheless, its yet another thing we are being asked to pay more for these days.

A bigger concern to us is the alarming increase in “leakage” due to uncollected tolls. The amount of unpaid turnpike tolls went up dramatically in the past year — to nearly 48%

In September, it was disclosed that more than $104 million in turnpike tolls went uncollected during the 2020-21 fiscal year as the agency fully converted to all-electronic tolling. That’s a $16 million increase over the previous fiscal year, according to a quarterly report prepared for the turnpike commission.

The Associated Press reported half of the millions of motorists who don’t use E-ZPass can travel without paying under the “toll-by-plate” license plate camera system.

A key problem is that many of those who don’t pay also don’t live in Pennsylvania. For example, 8.1% of those who receive bills by mail live in Ohio and 6.2% live in New Jersey. If they don’t pay their bills, the turnpike can do little about it because of a lack of reciprocity agreements with other states.

And, seriously, the costs to prosecute a motorist for $5 unpaid toll would far outweigh the return. There has to be a better way to recoup these unpaid tolls. Instead of consistently raising the fee to travel the pike, the state should go after those who are getting a free ride.

– JGG