Tom Corbett get serious about transportation funding later this spring, some changes could be coming to Act 44. Time will tell who is correct, but as lawmakers and Gov. The Turnpike Commission maintains itsdebt is sustainable and points to internal projections showing an expected increase in traffic despite the higher tolls. While tolls and debt are mounting, the chiefs of the Turnpike Commission received vehicles valued at more than $28,000 each and piled up more than $500,000 in expenses for meals and hotel rooms, according to an audit completed by Wagner’s office and released last week. He says the tipping point may be coming sooner than anyone expects, and a report by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week showing that truck traffic on the highway has declined in recent years seems to give his argument more weight. The turnpike has been turned into a cash cow for PennDOT, but the people getting milked are those who pay the tolls.Īnd there’s no end in sight – Act 44 requires the turnpike to make those payments every year until 2057.Īuditor General Jack Wagner has warned that continuing to increase tolls will, sooner or later, drive people from the high cost of using the turnpike and on to other roads that may not be designed to handle the traffic. The end result? Borrowing, lots of it, and annual toll increases to cover the spiraling debt-service costs. It just has to do so with a balance sheet that is $450 million lighter. Of course, the turnpike still has to take care of its own operations and keep its own bridges in usable condition. That annual payment is divided into $200 million for various road and bridge projects around the state and $250 million to subsidize mass transit, mostly in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
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