Pa. Turnpike tolls to rise by 6 percent

Tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will increase 6 percent in 2016, effective Jan. 3.

Also, an additional toll will be collected from westbound vehicles at a new all-electronic toll plaza in Bucks County, at the eastern end of the turnpike.

That toll will be $5 for passenger vehicles using E-ZPass and $6.75 for vehicles without E-ZPass. A bill will be mailed to the owner of a non-E-ZPass vehicle, based on its license plate.

The decisions by the Turnpike Commission on Tuesday to raise tolls for the eighth year in a row means the cash toll to drive from the Ohio border to the New Jersey border will be $48.90 for passenger cars, up from the current $46.10.

The westbound cash toll will also be about $49, depending on the final toll schedule, which will be determined later this year, turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo said. The westbound cash toll now is $39.90.

Drivers using E-ZPass will continue to get a discount of up to 35 percent, the commission said. The E-ZPass discount was introduced in 2011, and about 75 percent of turnpike customers use E-ZPass.

Tolls have been rising annually since 2009 to help pay for statewide highway and transit projects as well as upkeep of the turnpike.

Turnpike tolls totaling $4.75 billion have been diverted to off-turnpike projects since 2007, when the legislature required the turnpike to help pay for non-turnpike projects.

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