New year, another toll hike in Pa.

This is the smallest annual toll increase set by the commission in the last 12 years.

By the MVI

As planned, Pennsylvania Turnpike toll charges will go up 4% starting Sunday.

The money from the hikes, scheduled every year, are used to repay Act 44 debt, money that the state Legislature required the Turnpike Commission to pay toward state transportation costs.

The toll increases will continue annually through at least 2053. The commission said its goal is to reduce the increases by 3% in 2028; there was a 5% increase for 2025.

This is the smallest annual toll increase set by the commission in the last 12 years.

The turnpike is also continuing its transition to an Open Road Tolling system, expected to be complete in 2027.

Toll By Plate rates (the turnpike sends motorists a bill) are nearly 50% higher than those for E-ZPass customers, who have transponders and automatic payments.

The most common toll on the turnpike for passenger vehicles in 2026 will increase from $1.86 to $1.94 for E-ZPass customers and from $3.72 to $3.88 for Toll By Plate customers. The most common toll for tractor trailers will increase from $23.16 to $24.12 for E-ZPass users and from $46.32 to $48.24 for Toll By Plate users, the commission said.

To take a car on the Pennsylvania Turnpike from the New Jersey line to nearly Ohio costs $60.06 for E-ZPass and just under $115 via Toll By Plate. Next year, they would be $62.54 and $119.57, respectively.

Toll prices vary by the size of the vehicle as well. An online toll calculator can provide details ahead of a trip.

Drivers who don’t pay their tolls can have their vehicle registration suspended by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and, if nonpayment continues, could see civil actions filed with the state attorney general.

Toll booths are going away. The turnpike is replacing them with open-road tolling structures.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission approved a total of $367,107 in pay raises for the organization’s chief officers in March, as recommended by a wage study.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened in October 1940.

Why another rate increase?

The rate increase is needed to continue paying on more than $8 billion in debt the turnpike commission has taken on due to its funding obligation to the commonwealth under Act 44, the commission said in its release.

“In lieu of raising taxes for transportation, Act 44 of 2007, which was amended by Act 89 in 2013, obligated the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to assist in funding statewide ground transportation beyond PA Turnpike operations. Since 2008, the Commission has provided more than $8 billion to the commonwealth for this purpose,” the Dec. 30 release said.

The commission’s original obligation of $450 million per year to the commonwealth was reduced in 2022 to $50 million per year, but the commission must still repay the debt it incurred over those 15 years to make the required payments, according to the commission’s Act 44 Plan.

The Act 44 financial plan continues the trend of smaller toll increases into the future, with a 3.5% increase planned for 2027 and a 3% increase for 2028.

Even with the annual rate increases, the commission says that E-ZPass toll rates for the Pennsylvania Turnpike rank 20th among U.S states overall and are below the national average, while commercial toll rates are ranked 16th nationally.

Turnpike improvements in 2025

The turnpike commission also pursued a variety of construction and improvement projects in 2025, making critical updates to the 565-mile roadway that will continue into 2026.

Construction crews completed $737 million in road and maintenance projects in 2025, including 174 miles of roadway reconstructed and 24 miles resurfaced, according to the commission.

In addition, work was conducted on the western and central sections of the turnpike to install equipment and update those sections for the switch to Open Road Tolling, which will go into effect along the entire turnpike system in January 2027.

Open Road Tolling (ORT), which began in January 2025 east of Reading and on the Northeast Extension, uses upto- date computer technology to process tolls as vehicles travel along the turnpike instead of the traditional toll booth system.

“The PA Turnpike has been a leader in the ground-transportation industry for 85 years, and ORT is one of the most significant innovations in our history,” said Mark Compton, CEO for the turnpike, in a Dec. 26 statement from the commission.

“Our team strives to operate a ‘best in class’ roadway that embraces current technology and prepares for future innovation. We are grateful and proud that customers continue to choose the PA Turnpike as a safe, convenient and reliable way to move about Pennsylvania.”