Auditor General DePasquale says increasing tolls making turnpike unaffordable

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale issued a statement this week, saying that if turnpike toll rates continue to rise, “middle-class families are going to be forced off the roadway.”

The statement came after the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission voted to to raise tolls 6 percent in January 2019, marking the eleventh consecutive annual increase.

“As my previous audit and my 2013 special report requested by House Speaker Mike Turzai predicted, until legislators in Harrisburg address the $450 million payment the Turnpike must make to PennDOT annually, tolls are going to continue to rise,” DePasquale said. “I currently have teams auditing both PennDOT and the Turnpike Commission. The results of those two audits could help provide some relief for motorists who are already tired of the toll increases.”

DePasquale’s most recent performance audit covered fiscal years 2014 to 2016 and found that toll violations had increased 15 percent each year since 2011, causing the turnpike commission to write off $12 million to $20 million per year.

“Though the turnpike commission has an extensive, multi-level process involving multiple collection agencies to try to collect unpaid tolls and fees, it lacks the authority to deter drivers from skipping out on tolls,” DePasquale said in the 2016 audit. “What the General Assembly needs to do is provide the authority to suspend a Pennsylvania vehicle’s registration until outstanding tolls and fees are paid.”