“Keep moving” is what signs on the Pennsylvania Turnpike say as motorists drive through the unmanned toll booths.

And, so they do. Is it surprising that an internal government study showed more than $104 million in unpaid tolls in 2021?

What was the reasoning behind eliminating hundreds of humans from the job of toll collectors and auditors? Was the system supposed to save money — removing wages and health care costs that were supporting families in the Keystone State? Were the powers-that-be relying on today’s technology to do the job of hundreds of former employees over its more than 550 miles of road more efficiently?

According to the report in Sunday’s Butler Eagle, losses were already anticipated with the conversion in 2020.

Cameras at the toll plazas are to read the license plates of drivers without the E-ZPass, a device you attach to your windshield to collect toll information (and charge you a discounted rate). Those without faded or obscured plates or driving by while the cameras are experiencing a system failure will then have a bill mailed to them – assuming the computers match the plate number to the correct postal address.

Does it surprise anyone one that the Turnpike is not getting paid?

Raising tolls didn’t help the agency’s bottom line, but try, try again. Currently drivers with E-ZPass are paying $1.70 and those without $4.10. On Jan. 8, 2023, that price will go to $1.80 for E-ZPass customers and $4.40 for toll-by-plate drivers.

What does that mean by trip? Hard to say, since drivers don't get that ticket listing the prices by exit as they cruise through the toll booths.

And while the Turnpike deals with the loss representing 6.5% of all transactions, a financial watchdog points to the $3.2 million in free travel by those employed by the Turnpike from 2019 to 2021. Surely that will go down since they have less employees overall?

Not to worry, though. The solution is clear to Turnpike chief Mark Compton. He wants more teeth in the ability to collect those tolls. A bill passed by the state House and pending in the Senate would allow the Turnpike to suspend the vehicle registration for those with at least $250 in unpaid tolls. The current ceiling is $500 in unpaid bills.

We are not sure how much that will help the Turnpike, which is having trouble billing its customers. Services used should be paid for, however, while technology can be a valuable tool, it needs to be supported by employees who can deliver customer service along with the bills.

Yet the Turnpike has not given up hope, though, that technology will solve its financial problems. It recently announced a venture to use solar-generated power to eventually electrify sections of the Turnpike so electric vehicles can charge while driving. That should be a hit.

— DJS