Apr 6, 2022 3 min read

It has been about eight months since an internal Pennsylvania Turnpike report disclosed that more than $104 million in tolls went uncollected in 2020 – information that Turnpike officials initially concealed from the public.

That reluctance by the Turnpike’s hierarchy was due to embarrassment that the switch to all-electronic tolling had not gone as planned and that losses seemed destined to continue piling up.

Transparency regarding the huge loss would only make the embarrassment more problematic, the hierarchy surmised, and those officials subsequently were proven correct.

The Associated Press finally broke through the Turnpike’s initial silence by way of a Right-To-Know Law request. However, the public – especially the traveling public – mostly has been kept out of the proverbial loop on “interesting” financial developments since then, and right-thinking individuals should regard that as unacceptable.

Even work by a House panel in Harrisburg has been lacking in terms of fully opening a window to what is happening at Turnpike Commission headquarters about the $104 million. There is no acceptable excuse for secrecy to prevail on such an important issue involving so much money, but an absence of relevant data persists nonetheless.

What to do? Here is a starter worth implementing immediately:

One good means by which to force Turnpike officials to do a better job in collecting the money owed from an estimated 11 million rides is requiring the Turnpike Commission to provide a report to the public quarterly on collection activity.

Quarterly reporting would provide insight into how seriously the Turnpike regards its obligation to collect as much of the outstanding money as possible – money that could be used for a significant variety of purposes benefiting the toll road.

Or, rather than making real progress in terms of collection, has the commission allowed the number of unpaid tolls to increase markedly instead?

Such a situation would be a slap in the face to all responsible Turnpike travelers who pay their tolls, never expecting a free ride, especially not one resulting from flimsy excuses.

Responsible toll-payers can reasonably ask how the Turnpike cannot feel embarrassed about seeking its annual toll increases when it allows toll scofflaws to prevail on such a large scale.

Does the Legislature have any new or updated collection-strategy suggestions that might provide an incentive for toll scofflaws to come forward with the overdue money, or was all of that talk and criticism of the toll road agency in the legislative chambers in recent months merely shallow dialogue?

The number of toll scofflaws could be indicative of widespread belief among motorists that Pennsylvania is a toothless victim regarding non-payment. The amount of money at the center of the issue is ample evidence also.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is considered the “granddaddy of superhighways.”

Among “granddaddy-hood” is the capacity for wisdom and understanding.

Unfortunately, much of both has been missing in the embarrassing toll-collection debacle, and it is clear that a number of people are responsible for allowing that debacle to remain unresolved for so long.