This browser does not support the Video element.
Pennsylvania Turnpike toll booths will soon be a thing of the past
Open Road Tolling is set to launch across the Pennsylvania Turnpike, starting in just five months.
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. - Bumper-to-bumper lines as you fumble for toll cash are about to be a thing of the past on one popular roadway.
Open Road Tolling is set to launch across the Pennsylvania Turnpike, starting in just five months.
The cashless, free-flowing toll model will completely eliminate traditional toll plazas and tollbooths in between every exit and entry.
MORE HEADLINES:
- Sinkhole rattles houses in Port Richmond, creating dangerous traffic issues, according to residents
- New Jersey shore town makes list for worst cities to buy property in the next 5 years
- Antisemitism runs rampant in Philadelphia schools, Jewish group alleges in civil rights complaint
Instead of stopping at toll booths, drivers will get tolled as they pass underneath a gantry - no slow down required.
"We’re reading E-ZPass, we’re reading license plates," Construction Engineering Manager, Alan Williamson explained. "This captures you in lane and at highway speeds without having to navigate through a concrete lane."
The overhead gantries not only capture license plates, it also captures axle numbers to properly charge the E-ZPass or send a bill by mail. Officials say the ultimate reasoning for the new way of highway speed tolling comes down to efficiency and safety for customers.
Williamson continued, "We actually have customers that sideswipe and actually impact toll plazas. Because of the jockeying that goes on, we have customers who have accidents with other customers."
The roll-out will begin at the Northeast Extension and east of Reading this January, then continue moving west.
CEO of the Pa. Turnpike, Mark Compton, stated, "You, as a customer, need to do absolutely nothing different. The difference is you’ll be billed through open road tolling, no longer at the interchanges."
"Being able to move traffic freely through these areas, not having to come to a stop, not creating situations where idling occurs at the interchanges is part of this project," COO of Pa. Turnpike, Craig Shuey, said.