HARRISBURG – February 7, 2022 – Today, the Pennsylvania Senate Transportation Committee passed legislation introduced by Senator Marty Flynn (D-Lackawanna/Luzerne/Monroe) to update and improve the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s method of collecting and reporting on tolls.
The committee passed two bills, which will now make their way to the Senate floor. The first – Senate Bill 1051 – is part of Senator Flynn’s Turnpike Reform legislation package, and will require the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to submit an annual report to the General Assembly detailing the tolls that went collected and uncollected during the prior fiscal year. The Transportation Committee passed the bill unanimously.
“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,” Senator Flynn said. “We need to start holding the Turnpike Commission more accountable,” Senator Flynn said. “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.”
“As an organization, we strive to be as transparent as possible, and in the nine years I have served as Turnpike CEO, we have benefitted from a close working relationship with the Pennsylvania legislature. So further strengthening this interface is a positive step,” said PA Turnpike CEO Mark Compton. “We thank Senator Flynn and his colleagues for allowing us the opportunity to review and comment on this legislation.”
The second piece of legislation – Senate Bill 1053 – will give Pennsylvanians the option to use alternative electronic payment options, including payment applications such as Venmo, PayPal, CashApp, and Zelle, to pay their tolls. Current payment methods — E-Z Pass and Toll By Plate billing — will remain available to those paying their tolls.
“This is a great step in the right direction, and absolutely a win for the taxpayers of our state. We need to start thinking about the ways people pay for things now, and will be paying for things in the future, and get with the times. That begins today.”
Senate Bills 1051 and 1053 will now go to the full Senate for consideration.