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March 06, 2025 Tolls

Understanding the Value of Your PA Turnpike Toll

As a limited access highway, the Pennsylvania Turnpike does not receive state funding or tax dollars to maintain and operate our system. Instead, our operating revenue comes from tolls. These toll dollars go right back into our roadway, financing maintenance, construction and other operating costs.

Individuals have other options when it comes to travel beyond the PA Turnpike, including highways or local roads that are funded through taxes. Instead, customers choose to use our roadway because it provides a more seamless, convenient travel experience backed by a network of amenities and safety support. We work every day to ensure our customers receive the greatest value for their tolls.

Here is a breakdown of the benefits and value of your toll.

PA Turnpike Drivers Are Never Alone, Thanks to the Turnpike's 24/7 Roadway Assistance

Help is never more than a phone call away. To support customer safety and convenience, customers have access to the PA Turnpike's own dedicated state police troop and a roadside assistance team, who provide prompt and reliable help 24/7, 365 days a year. Our Traffic Operations Center, which is always open and serves as a hub of all communications, continuously monitoring PA Turnpike activities via an extensive radio and camera system.

In addition, the GEICO Safety Patrol includes a fleet of dedicated Pennsylvania Turnpike personnel who report to the scene for any roadside assistance. Their assistance can range from changing tires and jumpstarting a car to helping with mechanical issues and towing to requesting support from first responders.

Our team is always ready to go beyond the normal call of duty. In the last year, team members have supported the birth of babies born on the Turnpike, assisted a driver involved in a fiery accident, and rescued injured animals on the side of the road.

Anyone with a cellular phone traveling the PA Turnpike can dial *11 or call 1-800-332-3880 for roadway assistance any time of the day or night at no extra charge.

We also partner with 511PA, a statewide travel information service that provides reliable traffic, construction, weather and transit information to travelers.

PA Turnpike Drivers Experience a Safe Roadway

Safety is our top priority at the PA Turnpike. As a result, we have embedded it throughout our vision, mission and values. That commitment goes well beyond routine roadway improvements and quick response teams. We have several initiatives focused on ensuring the safety of drivers.

Safety is at the forefront of Open Road Tolling (ORT), which just began rolling out across the state. The adoption of ORT does more than just keep traffic moving. It also removes congestion and impediments to travel and creates a safer driving experience. Beginning this spring, toll plazas where Open Road Tolling is live will be removed and interchanges will be redesigned to allow for a more natural, free traffic flow. This reduces the need for lane switching and weaving as you enter and exit the PA Turnpike, which means less anxiety and confusion for drivers.

Beyond ORT, we are extremely focused on improving work zone safety. Our New Driver Work Zone Safety Program, which teaches new drivers how to better navigate work zones and protect roadway workers, is one of only two such programs in the nation and is available in English and Spanish. Our Work Zone Speed Safety Camera program, which is designed to change driver behavior and reduce driving speeds, recently received the 2025 Grand Conceptor Engineering Excellence Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Pennsylvania (ACEC/PA), which is the engineering group’s highest honor.

Drivers Can Rely on the PA Turnpike to Get to their Destinations

The PA Turnpike makes exploring Pennsylvania safe, convenient and reliable. With 565+ miles of roadway, drivers can travel obstacle-free from New Jersey to Ohio, with an extension through the Northeast, and Southwest portions of the Commonwealth.

We pride ourselves in ensuring that the PA Turnpike is more reliable than similarly sized roadways and have clearance times among the best in our industry. Customers can rely on us to get to their destinations, no matter the weather or what unexpected incidents may occur. When incidents inevitably occur, we work swiftly to clear the roadway for customers.

To ensure the smoothest journey possible, the PA Turnpike has a dedicated maintenance force, which quickly and safely removes snow, trash and other objects from the roadway, while making any necessary repairs and ensuring all safety infrastructure, such as guiderails, are in good condition.

Our winter support team is vital to maintaining the reliability of our roadway for those who need to drive during winter weather, working efficiently to clear snow and ice from our roadway. With 1,350 bridges, five tunnels, 93 interchange configurations and 17 service plazas, that adds up to approximately 2,900 snow-lane miles to maintain. To do this, the PA Turnpike uses more than 425 trucks, plows and salt spreaders, operated by more than 450 licensed operators.

In addition to our winter response efforts, we often schedule overnight construction work and some overnight maintenance work to minimize travel disruption during peak hours. It is all part of our mission to ensure travelers have the best driving experience possible.

PA Turnpike Service Plazas Make Travel Efficient, Comfortable and Simple

Running low on fuel, need a snack, or just want to stretch your legs? There are 17 Service Plaza Stations located along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. These easy-on, easy-off plazas are open 24 hours a day and offer restrooms, a variety of food options, and other amenities to make travel comfortable and efficient.

All service plazas feature Sunoco fuel and 7-Eleven Convenience Stores. In addition to traditional fuel, we are meeting customers' increasing demand for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. We have 63 electric vehicle plug-ins now available to travelers with 80 more to be installed. This would add EV charging stations at each of our 17 service plazas by 2027.

In addition to the traditional amenities, the PA Turnpike offers two unique programs at its service plazas:

  • Farmers Markets: April 1- November 30, we offer seasonal Farmer's Markets at the New Stanton service plaza. Purchase locally grown fresh produce and quality foods from an array of vendors seven days a week.
  • Art Sparks Program: We partner with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) to bring its Arts in Education program to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The Art Sparks Program supports bringing artist residencies to educational, community, and institutional settings. As a result of this partnership, the Pennsylvania Turnpike has installed local, student-produced art pieces in every service plaza system-wide.
  • Sideling Hill Trailhead: This fall, the PA Turnpike is opening a trailhead at the Sideling Hill Service Plaza to provide better access to a popular outdoor recreation area for our customers as well as those in the local community. The trailhead will provide easy access using a renovated walking path between the Service Plaza and the Trailhead for off-Pike and on-pike customers.

The PA Turnpike is Committed to Improving and Maintaining our Roadway

Since we first opened for travel in 1940, the PA Turnpike has expanded and invested in our roadway infrastructure as part of our commitment to provide a safer and more efficient travel experience for PA Turnpike customers.

To make this a reality, the current PA Turnpike Commission’s Capital Plan invests $7 billion over ten years in reconstruction and modernization of the PA Turnpike. This investment has enabled the completion of over 164 miles of total reconstruction of our system to date. Total Reconstruction widens the roadway from two to three lanes in each direction, increases shoulder and median width to support safety, minimizes traffic queuing and provides more efficient emergency responder access, and smooths curves for a gentler ride. As a result, our customers can count on the PA Turnpike to continue providing a smoother ride and improved mobility for many years to come.

Choosing the PA Turnpike is Supporting Local

Our employees live throughout the state and are integral members of the Commonwealth and their communities. From those who support our roadway, bridges, tunnels or service plazas to our partnerships with contractors, EMS services and local fire departments, our work directly supports and contributes to local communities beyond the access we provide as a roadway.

Tolls also help fund statewide transportation. Annual toll rate increases are required to repay our Act 44/89 obligations. The goal of Act 44 was to fund statewide interstate, road, bridge and transit projects across the state in lieu of raising taxes for PA residents. As a result of Act 44, the PA Turnpike has paid PennDOT more than $8 billion since 2008 to fund non-Turnpike transportation needs around Pennsylvania.

The PA Turnpike has historically played a vital role in fostering economic growth in local communities throughout the Commonwealth. When the PA Turnpike builds new interchanges and connections, it does not just enable faster, more direct travel, it also creates significant economic development potential for local communities. The PA Turnpike enables a direct connection between transportation and our economy. Now with ORT, the PA Turnpike can build new access points at a fraction of the cost and in significantly less time than traditional tolling, which will deliver even greater economic and mobility benefits to communities along the PA Turnpike.