Open Road Tolling

The PA Turnpike is converting to Open Road Tolling (ORT). It is a safer, more convenient, and more affordable way for our customers to travel.

What is ORT?

Open Road Tolling is a cashless, free-flowing mode of collecting tolls without traditional toll plazas or tollbooths.

In the ORT system, tolls are charged electronically as customers drive at highway speeds beneath overhead structures, called gantries, without slowing down or stopping at toll booths. Equipment on the gantry and in the roadway classifies and identifies the vehicle and electronically processes tolls, allowing for free-flowing traffic, which reduces accidents, improves the environment, and allows new access points.

Learn how our open road toll zone construction sequence works.

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The Start of ORT on The PA Turnpike

Open Road Tolling is the culmination of the PA Turnpike's decade-long journey to modernize operations on our 565 miles of roadway.

The PA Turnpike welcomed the dawn of a new era as we officially launched Open Road Tolling on the mainline PA Turnpike east of Reading and the entire Northeast Extension on January 5, 2025. It will launch statewide in January 2027.

How The Technology Behind ORT Works

ORT systems have been operating across the U.S. and around the globe for more than 20 years. They rely on innovations in technology to identify and classify each vehicle as it passes beneath the gantry.

A Closer Look:

Vehicles are classified to determine the appropriate toll rate. Specialized sensors are mounted overhead to the gantry and embedded in the pavement to determine a vehicle’s height and number of axles. Sensors called vehicle separators distinguish one vehicle from others nearby. In the ORT system, weight will no longer be used to classify vehicles.
E-ZPass readers (antennae) collect vehicle information from a transponder device for those who have set up a prepaid account. Most PA Turnpike travelers — about 86% — choose this payment method, which offers the lowest rates.

If an E-ZPass transponder is not detected, overhead cameras that have already captured a series of high-definition images of a vehicle’s license plate will check the E-ZPass system to see if the license plate is tied to an E-ZPass. If one is found, payment will be deducted from the user’s account at the E-ZPass price. Otherwise, a Toll By Plate invoice is generated and mailed to the registered owner. Due to the costs of processing a toll this way, rates for Toll By Plate customers are higher.
All data collected at the gantry is transferred via a broadband, fiber optic network now being built to the Turnpike’s Customer Service Center, located in Harrisburg, for verification, processing, and payment. All data is secured and not shared.

Discover the essentials of ORT with our easy-to-read guides.

Top Ten Things to Know About ORT
Link to PDF
Top Ten Things to Know About ORT (Spanish Version)
Link to PDF
Top 10 Things Commercial Drivers Need to Know About ORT
Link to PDF
Top 10 Things Commercial Drivers Need to Know About ORT (Spanish Version)
Link to PDF

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does the toll money collected go?

Apr 13, 2023, 15:33 PM

Question : Where does the toll money collected go?

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Our toll rates reflect the cost of operating, rebuilding, and expanding the nation’s oldest four-lane superhighway, parts of which came into service in 1940 — about 15 years before the first U.S. interstates. Tolls fund all our efforts to provide safe, nonstop travel, including 24/7 PA State Police coverage, maintenance, and our safety patrols. Tolls also fund the significant capital investments to rebuild and expand our 560+ mile system to meet growing demand.

Toll rates also reflect the borrowing costs the Turnpike has incurred in the last 16 years due to a state law, Act 44, which requires the Turnpike to provide supplemental funding to PennDOT, principally to fund transit systems across the state. To learn more about Act 44 and its impact on our customers and agency, please click here.

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More Tolling Resources

PA Toll Pay App

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Using E-ZPass Out of State

The E-ZPass network currently includes more than 16 states.

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