Pa. Turnpike Tolls To Increase In 2014

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – If you travel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, get ready to shell out some more money in 2014.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is increasing fares for the sixth straight year.

Cash users will see a 12 percent hike, while EZ Pass users will pay 2 percent more.

To put it in perspective, drivers getting on the Turnpike in Monroeville and traveling to Breezewood will pay $12.60 cash and $8.97 if you are using an EZ Pass.

Now, the Turnpike is using this as an incentive to get more people enrolling in the EZ Pass program.

The EZ Pass system saves the Turnpike money because cash transactions cost 5 to 10 times more to process.

As of last year, 70 percent of people using the Turnpike were using an EZ Pass.

The Turnpike Commission hopes reduced rates for EZ Pass users will encourage more people to sign up.

Turnpike officials also said the rate hikes are needed to generate money for PennDOT and for the ongoing maintenance of the highway.

Oofficials are hoping to eventually go cashless. It's something they say could happen as soon as 2018.

The rate hike goes into effect on Jan. 5.

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