The Pennsylvania Senate Transportation Committee recently advanced legislation updating and improving how the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission collects and reports tolls.
Senate Bill 1051, part of a turnpike reform legislation package, would require the commission to submit an annual report to the General Assembly detailing the tolls it collected during the prior fiscal year and any uncollected tolls.
Senate Bill 1053 would allow motorists to pay tolls through alternative electronic payment options. Currently, E-Z Pass and Toll By Plate billing are used. If the bill becomes law, other methods would be accepted, including CashApp, PayPal, Venmo, and Zelle.
“After the Transportation Committee met with members of the Turnpike Commission at a hearing in September to discuss the $104 million in uncollected tolls the prior year, I knew something had to be done,” state Sen. Marty Flynn (D-Lackawanna/Luzerne/Monroe), who introduced the bills, said. “We need to start holding the Turnpike Commission more accountable. If they begin reporting to us instead of only reporting to themselves, maybe they’ll take the hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue more seriously.”
The commission says it strives to be as transparent as possible.
The bills move to the full Senate for consideration.