PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvania Turnpike officials want to study what would happen if tolls on the highway were collected electronically.

The Turnpike has advertised for a consultant to look at all-electronic toll collection for the 545-mile system. Turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo says the study will take about a year to complete.

About 62 percent of Turnpike users have E-ZPass transponders, which allow them to establish a prepaid account and pass through toll plazas without stopping.

An electronic system would take a picture of the license plates of those drivers without E-ZPass and send them a bill in the mail. Officials say the system would eliminate backups that happen at toll plazas because cars would not have to stop.