The Pennsylvania Turnpike has stepped up enforcement proceedings against motorists who refuse to pay tolls, but the amount of unpaid charges increased another $15 million in the past year to $170 million.
That’s far lower than the previous year’s $50 million increase in “leakage” — the industry term for unpaid tolls — and well within the expected range of unpaid charges in the industry for a system that generates $1.6 billion in yearly tolls. CEO Mark Compton said the agency continues to take steps to increase collections, such as asking the state Department of Transportation to suspend vehicle registrations for the most serious offenders and expanding the ways drivers can pay their bills.
In an interview Friday, Compton said the rate of nonpayment remains about the same, but the amount owed has increased mostly because tolls increased by 5% in January.
Two of the biggest problems are drivers who don’t use the EZ-Pass transponder and fail to pay bills they receive in the mail, and out-of-state scofflaws where the turnpike has little enforcement power.
“No question, we are not satisfied,” Compton said. “We continue to push all aspects of this.”
The biggest push, because of a change in state law, has been an increase in the number of in-state drivers facing revocation of their vehicle registration for refusing to pay turnpike tolls.
Beginning in January, the state could ask PennDOT to revoke vehicle registrations when drivers accumulate $250 of unpaid tolls over five years instead of $500 over three years. That greatly expanded the pool of owners the agency could take action against, Compton said, and the lower amount has made it more likely they will pay when they get a notice instead of accepting a suspension.
Since the lower standard for suspending registrations took effect in January, the number of active suspensions has increased by 33.8%, from 20,501 to 27,434, through May 31. The number of owners going through the revocation process increased 29.1%, from 33,675 at the end of the year to 43,474 at the end of May.
“It’s very early in the process, but we do have a sense it is working very well,” Compton said. “It is working as intended.”
Compton also praised the Pennsylvania State Police for being “good partners” in the enforcement process by citing drivers they stop who have suspended registrations.
The agency’s May report on unpaid tolls showed it collected 93.3% of charges the previous year, down from 93.5% in May 2022. That includes 87.2% who use the prepaid EZ-Pass program, which the turnpike prefers because payments are almost guaranteed because a transponder in the vehicle is linked to a credit card.
For those without a transponder, the agency takes a photo of their license plate and sends them a bill in the mail. Unfortunately, 39% of those who receive a bill — 5% of all customers — do not pay their tolls within 150 days.
That became more important when the agency switched in spring 2020 to all-electronic tolling to limit contact between drivers and toll collectors. The result was more drivers being able to avoid tolls because they didn’t have to stop and pay at a toll plaza.
The May report shows a total of 47.7% pay their bills within 150 days. The remaining 13.3% of Toll-by-Plate charges are deemed uncollectable because the license plate isn’t visible — sometimes on purpose — or the registration is linked to the wrong address.
The agency encourages the use of EZ-Pass a number of ways. For example, it charges Toll-by-Plate users a 45% surcharge, but each bill includes an offer to waive that fee if the motorist switches to EZ-Pass.
Additionally, for several years the turnpike raised rates at a lower level for those who used EZ-Pass. Through those efforts, EZ-Pass usage inched above 87% for the first time in the past year.
Going after out-of-state drivers is a more difficult problem.
The report shows 61.6% of Toll-by-Plate bills are sent to Pennsylvania residents. The rest — up 2% from last year — go to out-of-state motorists who account for about half of the unpaid tolls, the largest offenders being from neighboring states Ohio (8.9%), New Jersey (6.3%), West Virginia (2.6%), New York (2.4%) and Maryland (2.2%).
The problem is that the turnpike has no power to go after drivers from other states unless those states have similar enforcement procedures. All states face similar problems with uncollected tolls, but some choose to charge fines or suspend driver’s licenses rather than suspend registrations, so Pennsylvania can’t reach an agreement to go after each other’s scofflaws.
Compton said he has been frustrated that other states refuse to publicize their uncollected tolls because that makes it more difficult to produce enforcement agreements.
“I’m disappointed at the lack of agencies willing to share their data,” he said, noting he tried to change that several years ago while serving as president of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association. “It’s the nature of the beast [to have unpaid tolls]. We shouldn’t hide from that.”
As he has several times in recent years, Compton said talks with other state are “progressing nicely,” and he hopes to “have something soon.”
Compton said it also is important for the turnpike to “meet our customers where they want to be” by offering as many ways as possible for them to pay tolls. For example, the agency in the past two years has added a broad range of convenience stores across the state as payment sites for motorists.
“We have to do everything we can to make it as easy as possible for our customers,” he said.
CORRECTION: This story originally was incorrect about the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s surcharge for Toll-by-Plate users.
Ed covers transportation at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at eblazina@unionprogress.com.