Increased tolls and a new tolling system now in effect on PA Turnpike

The Pennsylvania Turnpike debuted new changes recently, with tolls increasing 5% and open-road tolling east of Reading.

A new year is bringing changes to the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

A 5% increase in tolls took effect Sunday and the eastern portion of the highway has converted to open-road tolling.

Tolls were increased last year by 5%, and the Turnpike Commission said motorists can expect an annual increase over the next 14 years due to bond borrowing requirements.

To see 2025 rates and to calculate the cost of your route along the turnpike, use the Toll Calculator.

In addition to the toll increase, there’s a new open-road tolling system on the turnpike in the eastern part of the state. The switch to open-road tolling, where overhead gantries are installed and toll booths are removed, took place east of Reading and on the Northeast Extension at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 5. 

In an open-road tolling system, tolls are charged electronically as motorists drive at highway speeds without slowing down or stopping beneath overhead structures, or gantries. Equipment on the gantry and in the roadway processes E-ZPass or Toll By Plate transactions. 

Gantry construction in the western section is currently underway and is expected to be completed and in use by January 2027.

Motorists using the turnpike will notice a difference in their bill, as invoices will now show each gantry a motorist passes under during their trip. Until open-road tolling fully launches statewide in 2027, tolls west of Reading where gantries are not yet operational will still be charged to a motorist as an interchange-to-interchange trip like they were before.  

Toll plazas in the eastern section of the turnpike will be removed later this year.

Along with those changes, a new statewide toll schedule was implemented which institutes a consistent per-mile rate and moves away from weight-based classification to Axle and Height under Automated Vehicle Classification (AVC). According to the PA Turnpike Commission, this could actually mean a cut in rates for some motorists.

For example, the commission said the changes to standardization and AVC classifications will result in nearly 50% of passenger car trips seeing a lower toll rate compared to what they paid prior to Jan. 5, when the 5% toll increase went into effect. 

About 84% of E-ZPass and 74% of Toll By Plate trips will either see a toll cut or an increase of under $1 in 2025, and about 70% of commercial vehicles will see an increase of $5 or less.