PA Auditor Slams Turnpike Authority Over Debt
No limits to the authority's ability to hike tolls
The Pennsylvania Turnpike's debt is unsustainable thanks to the state law that allowed the road to implement massive toll hikes, state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale concluded. DePasquale released his findings Tuesday during testimony before the state House Transportation Committee.
"We developed this special report to call attention to the unforeseen impact that Act 44 of 2007 is having not only on the Turnpike, but on motorists and businesses across the state," DePasquale said. "As auditor general, I wanted to know what happens to the Turnpike toll rates motorists pay and what happens to the Turnpike debt if we do nothing to fix Act 44."
Before Act 44, tolls were raised just five times in 64 years. Since the law took effect, motorists using the cross-state route have been hit with an 84 percent increase in tolls that will continue increasing up to 5 percent year-after-yea. The increases add up quickly.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?