PA Turnpike Highlights Successful 2025, Paving the Way for Advancing Excellence in 2026
PA Turnpike Highlights Successful 2025, Paving the Way for Advancing Excellence in 2026
MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — As 2025 comes to a close, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PA Turnpike) is proud to celebrate a year of major achievements on “America’s First Superhighway.” For 85 years and counting, the PA Turnpike’s commitment to high standards drives success in safety, customer service and mobility.
“2025 will go down as perhaps the most consequential year since the PA Turnpike opened in 1940,” said Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary and PA Turnpike Commission Chair Mike Carroll. “We continue to set the national standard for superhighway design and engineering. Thanks to our 1,400+ employees, the PA Turnpike’s operations, customer service and community engagement will continue to drive excellence for the next 85 years.”
CUSTOMER DRIVEN
The Commission launched one of the most transformative projects in its history this past January, a culmination of a 15-year long journey to modernize operations.
Open Road Tolling (ORT) went live east of Reading and along the Northeast Extension. Under ORT, tolls are charged electronically as customers drive at highway speeds beneath overhead 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. When toll booths are removed, ORT leads to more free-flowing traffic, reduces accidents, improves the environment, and allows new access points.
"The PA Turnpike has been a leader in the ground-transportation industry for 85 years, and ORT is one of the most significant innovation in our history,” said PA Turnpike CEO Mark Compton. “Our team strives to operate a ‘best in class’ roadway that embraces current technology and prepares for future innovation. We are grateful and proud that customers continue to choose the PA Turnpike as a safe, convenient and reliable way to move about Pennsylvania.”
To prepare for ORT’s systemwide launch in 2027, the Commission built 18 ORT facilities in the central and western portions, began adding and testing tolling equipment there, and started demolition and reconfiguration at 20 eastern legacy toll plazas.
The PA Turnpike also elevated Toll By Plate customer convenience this year, expanding the KUBRA cash payment network.
TEAMWORK DELIVERS
Roadway maintenance and improvements totaled $737 million in 2025, including 174 completed Total Reconstruction miles and 24-plus miles of finished roadway resurfacing. Several major projects have advanced, such as the Beaver River Bridge and opening two southern Mon/Fayette Expressway sections to traffic. All PA Turnpike work is a direct investment of toll dollars. For additional information on the 2025 construction season, click here.
The Commission continued to effectively manage its Act 44 of 2007 debt service while keeping operating expenses below actual budgeted expenses for the eighth consecutive year and maintaining passenger rates below the national average for toll roads, bridges and tunnels. It also pursued egregious unpaid toll violators, partnering with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General to enforce legal action. As of December 2025, the Commission’s ongoing enforcement efforts collected more than $57 million in unpaid tolls, while significantly increasing past due toll repayment. More information on enforcement efforts can be found here.
The Commission, alongside state and local partners, celebrated PennSTART’s construction kick-off. This closed loop state-of-the-art testing facility in Westmoreland County is designed to accelerate national innovation in emerging transportation technology. It will also offer hands-on first responder training, effectively preparing police, fire, medical, and towing personnel for the dangers encountered during an incident – like distracted or aggressive drivers.
SAFETY ALWAYS
From January 1 through November 30, the PA Turnpike’s Maintenance Utility Workers and the GEICO Safety Patrol team assisted in 42,000 incidents, in addition to their routine patrols. The roadway is also supported by a dedicated maintenance force and Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) Troop T.
The PA Turnpike launched 47676, a new text messaging service providing real-time communication, location-specific incident information, anticipated clearance times and roadway updates during unexpected traffic backlogs. This industry-first service complements existing assistance offerings such as *11, which connects to the PA Turnpike's Traffic Operations Center for emergency assistance, and 511PA, the statewide travel information service.
The PA Turnpike also safely managed traffic at several large-scale events, including the 2025 U.S. Open in Oakmont and the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire in Manheim.
In September, the maintenance fleet added a pair of hook lift-mounted platforms. The first-of-their-kind units for elevated tasks, such as tunnel maintenance and repair, provide level workspaces, minimize reaching or twisting and can be swapped among existing trucks, resulting in significant equipment cost savings and safer work environments.
ADVANCING EXCELLENCE
The Commission received industry-wide recognition across multiple departments. These include:
- Info-Tech Innovator of the Year Award for outstanding achievements in information technology.
- The March of Dimes Transportation, Building, and Construction Award for Innovation for Open Road Tolling.
- The 2025 Grand Conceptor Engineering Excellence Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania (ACEC/PA) for the work zone speed safety camera program, an honor shared jointly with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).
- American Society of Highway Engineers 2025 Outstanding Highway Engineering Award for the Milepost 102-109 Total Reconstruction project.
In addition, several employees were also recognized for their professional excellence.
With the Sideling Hill Service Plaza Trailhead opening, the Commission posted another first-of-its-kind connection point for the Commonwealth’s outdoor economy. It provides outdoor enthusiasts, especially cyclists, with easy access to a vast network of trails and historic sites, and service plaza patrons with access to green areas and scenic views.
RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS
The PA Turnpike takes its role as a good steward seriously, seeking to embody diversity, integrity, and sustainability in pursuit of becoming “America’s First Sustainable Superhighway” by 2040.
The PA Turnpike continues to demonstrate fiscal responsibility of customers’ toll dollars. For the eighth consecutive year, the PA Turnpike has kept operating costs below budgeted expenses, with operating expenses 11% below budgeted in 2025. In 2025, the PA Turnpike refinanced nearly $1.25 billion of existing debt, generating $205 million in interest rate savings.
The Commission continued its PA GreenGov Council streak, remaining the only state agency to achieve four consecutive, perfect scores. Based on a set of approximately 100 standards, grouped into 20 key areas, achievements range from reducing energy consumption and improved fleet vehicle efficiency to active employee culture and engagement initiatives.
The PA Turnpike expanded EV charging options at several service plazas, ensuring all 17 service plazas have EV charging by 2027. Solar microgrid construction is also underway at the Commission’s Western Regional Office (WRO). When complete, it will power the New Stanton office and attached PSP Troop T barracks.
And, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA), the Commission completed its 17th and final student-produced art installation for service plazas under the Art Sparks program.
COMMUNICATE OPENLY
In May, the Commission launched “Turnpike TV,” a new video series offering valuable information about infrastructure projects and efforts to improve safety, access and mobility across the Commonwealth.
To support increasing call volumes and the more than 300 individuals providing daily customer service support, the Commission activated its first AI-powered virtual assistant, Miles, this fall.
It also held numerous public outreach efforts, ranging from public stakeholder meetings on the Delaware River Bridge, SR 130 Interchange and the Breezewood Interchange projects to media and public official tours at new Open Road Tolling gantries and the ongoing Beaver River Bridge worksite.
A national transportation leader, the Pennsylvania Turnpike (PA Turnpike) is the second largest tolling facility in the United States with the most miles. The PA Turnpike proudly supports safety and convenience for its more than 550,000 daily customers through 24-7 roadside assistance, round-the-clock food and fuel at 17 service plazas and a dedicated maintenance force and State Police Troop. The PA Turnpike’s approximately 1,400-person local workforce is unified in its mission; to operate a safe, reliable, customer-valued toll road system that supports national mobility and commerce. For more information about the PA Turnpike’s mission, vision and values, please visit Home | PA Turnpike.
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Media Contacts:
Crispin Havener, Assistant Press Secretary: (717) 870-2841, chavener@paturnpike.com
Marissa Orbanek, Press Secretary: (267) 408-5151, morbanek@paturnpike.com