PA Turnpike to Launch Cashless Tolling at Westmoreland and Lawrence County Sites
New ‘No Cash Zones’ mean customers will pay using E-ZPass or TOLL BY PLATE options.
MIDDLETOWN, PA (July 10, 2019) – The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) on Oct. 27 will launch cashless tolling at PA Turnpike 66, also known as the Greensburg Bypass, in Westmoreland County and at the Gateway tolling point at milepost 2 on I-76 in Lawrence County.
Customers at these locations will have two payment options: They can pay using E-ZPass or will receive a PA Turnpike TOLL BY PLATE invoice by mail. Once the conversions take place, cash will no longer be accepted at these locations.
With the PA Turnpike TOLL BY PLATE option, high-speed cameras capture license-plate images as vehicles pass by. The registered vehicle owner receives an invoice for all trips made through the tolling point. Invoices can be paid online, by phone or through the mail. (E-ZPass, used by nearly 85 percent of PA Turnpike travelers, will continue to be the least-expensive option as well as the only method accepted statewide.)
“Cashless tolling has been adopted by dozens of agencies across the United States because of the improved safety and mobility it provides,” said PTC CEO Mark Compton. “Everyone pays electronically, so there’s no need to stop; all motorists benefit from the convenience of uninterrupted travel. Plus, interchange safety is improved since cash-paying and E-ZPass customers no longer need to dart across tollbooth traffic to get in the correct lane.”
In the last decade since the PTC began studying, planning for and implementing cashless tolling, more than 30 agencies in 14 states have established cashless systems using these proven technologies.
On PA Turnpike 66 (Greensburg Bypass): The mainline toll plaza and four ramp plazas at this location will become No Cash Zones; all customers will pay either via E-ZPass or TOLL BY PLATE.
At Gateway Tolling Point (I-76 eastbound): After conversion, all customers in this No Cash Zone will stay on the mainline and use existing express lanes to pay via E-ZPass or TOLL BY PLATE. Customers will no longer veer to the right and travel through cash lanes at the tollbooth.
“We already instituted cashless tolling regionally at the Beaver Valley Expressway and the Findlay Connector,” Compton said. “I’m pleased to report that the performance at these locations — and two others in eastern PA — has been on par with projections and that traffic and revenue meet or exceed forecasts.”
As with all previous conversions, the PTC is dedicated to implementing electronic tolling at Gateway and Turnpike 66 without laying off full-time employees. Collectors will relocate to other area toll plazas.
With these upcoming conversions, the Turnpike will operate six cashless tolling locations. Last year, it converted the Findlay Connector in Washington and Allegheny counites and the Keyser Avenue and Clarks Summit tolling points on the Northeastern Extension. In 2017, it converted the Beaver Valley Expressway (Toll 376). In January 2016, it opened a cashless tolling point near the Turnpike Bridge over the Delaware River at the New Jersey border.
“After the upcoming cashless conversions this fall, the remaining sections of the east-west mainline and the Northeastern Extension are scheduled to be converted to cashless by 2022,” Compton said. “The Mon/Fayette Expressway in southwest PA is also scheduled to be converted to cashless by 2022.”
Compton noted that the 13-mile Southern Beltway project between Route 22 and I-79 in Allegheny and Washington counties will open in 2021 as a cashless tolling roadway with two mainline toll zones.
For more information on these projects visit www.nocashzone.com.
CONTACT:
Renee Vid Colborn
Phone: 714.645.3502
Rosanne Placey
Phone: 717.645.4362