By: Ed Blazina
The Pennsylvania Turnpike will use the benefits of tight spending controls during the pandemic, a strong return of traffic and the expected elimination of a $400 million annual payment to the state to follow through on plans to reduce its annual toll increases.
The turnpike commission voted Tuesday to approve a 5% increase in tolls beginning in January, the 14th year in a row that tolls will increase. But the increase is slightly lower than the 6% hikes the agency has had each year since 2015 and marks the beginning of a program to gradually reduce the annual increases to 3% by 2028.