The Turnpike Wasn’t Meant to Cost This Much

July 17, 2026

Cha ching, cha ching, cha-ching! That’s the soundtrack of every trip on the Pennsylvania Turnpike now that tolls are rising yet again.

When the Pennsylvania Legislature first established the turnpike in 1930s, citizens were told once its bonds were paid off, the Turnpike would be free. With the highest per-mile tolls in the country, we see that the complete opposite has occurred. This year, tolls are set to increase another 3.5%.

There are two reasons why tolls continually climb. First, the Turnpike pays for projects and responsibilities that extend well outside its core operations. Second, the turnpike maintains a bloated and redundant organizational structure in parallel to PennDOT.

This is a great example of where transportation can be streamlined for reliability and reduced costs. Turnpike tolls should only be used for maintaining and improving the Turnpike itself. 

It’s clear something must be done. Recently, legislation I support was proposed to stop the Turnpike from sending confusing text messages to collect unpaid balances. While accountability is important, the only real solution is to address the Turnpikes underlying financial situation.

If we fail to act, we could end up with another Johnstown Flood Tax situation, a burden that persists far beyond its intended purpose and is still paid by Pennsylvanians today. Pennsylvania has so many wonderful strengths, we need to prevent misguided government actions from driving up our costs and driving people away.

Representative Jeremy Shaffer
28th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact:  Andrew Forgotch
717.772.9905
aforgotch@pahousegop.com