A class-action lawsuit has been brought against the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) for excessive toll increases and misappropriation of toll funds.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) along with the National Motorists Association filed a lawsuit in March saying the toll increases put an undue burden on interstate commerce. The plaintiffs add that PTC diverts millions in excess tolls to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for projects unrelated to the turnpike.
The preliminary injunction filed last week looks to stop the PTC from overcharging customers to pay for non-turnpike projects and to refund the money to turnpike users.
Both OOIDA and NMA say the tolls account for more than 200 percent of the actual cost of operating the turnpike. They estimate that in each of the last two years about $600 million in excess toll receipts were used by the PennDOT to support projects that have no relationship to the turnpike.
“The tolls charged far exceed the value of the use of turnpike and the costs to maintain it,” Todd Spencer, acting president and CEO of OOIDA, said. “Truckers have especially overpaid the price at as much as 70 cents per mile.”
The lawsuit, filed in the Middle District of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, says that federal interstate commerce laws dictate that tolls can only be used to maintain or expand the highway for which the tolls are levied.
“Truckers and motorists are not ATMs to fund everything under the sun. The ongoing, economic drain on unsuspecting turnpike users is the epitome of highway robbery,” Spencer said.