Taking a Toll

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HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission officials believe a plan that would eliminate the tolling of many local residents using Interstate 80 daily will alleviate some of the concerns over the proposal, without affecting revenues.

Under plans released Wednesday, the commission proposes having nine automated "no-stop" tolling booths along the interstate from the Ohio to New Jersey state lines. Due to concerns from residents and officials, however, the commission is now planning to allow those who utilize an E-ZPass transponder to go through one booth without being tolled each trip, effectively eliminating the tolls for 70 percent of local residents.

"We estimated one-third would never go through a mainline plaza if they are only using the interstate for 20 to 30 miles. We wanted to know how we can further reduce the amount of tolls for local residents," said Barry Schoch, project manager, during a press conference yesterday morning. "The intent is for the regional users to pay for the maintenance and construction of I-80."

However, Schoch noted no matter where the tolling plazas are located, they would have the unintended consequence of tolling some more than others, depending on their locations.

"If you were unlucky enough to have a tolling place next to your exit, you would pay a toll while your neighbor may not pay a toll," he said. "That's an inequity and we want to balance that out."

The result, he said, was to start tolling at the second "gantry" for those with E-ZPass. That, he said, would allow residents to travel up 50 to 60 miles toll-free.

The commission has identified 20 different locations where toll booths could be located. That will then be whittled down to nine final locations.

Two locations are proposed for this area: one in between the Bellefonte and Lock Haven exits and another between the Jersey Shore and Lewisburg/Williamsport exits.

Schoch said the primary factor on which location is chosen is how much it will divert traffic from the highway onto local roads. Not only would that affect revenues, he said, the diversion could also overburden local roads.

According to a study, putting a toll booth between the Bellefonte and Lamar exits would divert traffic onto Route 26 to Route 550 and then onto Route 64 before going back onto I-80 at the Lamar exit.

Schoch said planners in Centre County told him they were concerned about travellers using Route 64 all the way into State College, instead of hooking onto I-80 at Bellefonte.

The other alternative, placing a "no-stop" booth between the Lamar and Lock Haven exits, would divert traffic onto routes 64 and 220, then back onto Interstate 80, he said.

Further, officials believe a tolling station somewhere between the Bellefonte and Lock Haven exits would divert traffic between State College and Lewisburg onto Route 192 or Route 45, which parallels I-80.

"Some traffic is already doing that, but when you're including the tolls, it would give someone more incentive to do that instead of using I-80," Schoch said.

For the other proposed area, tolling between Jersey Shore and Mile Run would cause travellers to be diverted onto White Deer Pike, a gravel road with one-lane bridges.

Locating a booth between Mile Run and Lewisburg/Williamsport exits would divert traffic onto White Deer Pike and Route 15, or Route 44. In addition, the study shows those wishing to access Jersey Shore could also use either Route 44 or Route 880.

Statewide, an estimated 2,500 passenger cars and 1,700 commercial trucks would be diverted from long-distance rides daily, he said.

Schoch said while tolling I-80 would divert some traffic onto local roads, it would also alleviate some of the drivers who use the interstate to avoid the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

For example, he said getting off the Route 322 exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and hooking onto Interstate 80 near State College would mean about 12 extra miles for someone travelling from Harrisburg to Youngstown, Ohio. Tolling the interstate, Schoch said, would likely mean between 400 and 500 less trucks a day using Route 322.

Schoch called the automated "no-stop" tolling places as the "future" in toll collecting nationwide.

Those with E-ZPass transponders would be allowed to go through one toll booth free of charge for each trip and would be invoiced through the mail for any other toll booths on the interstate, he said. Those without E-ZPasses would be billed after automated cameras would take pictures of their license plates. They would also be charged a $1 surcharge for administration of the invoices, Schoch said.

To sign up for EZ Pass, motorists would pay a $3 annual maintenance fee and put money on a credit card, normally starting at $35, Schoch said. Each time a car would go through a billable toll plaza, the system would automatically deduct the fee from the pass.

He said the transponders are mounted inside a vehicle's windows and read by the gantries. Motorists can also register their vehicle type and license plate number with the commission and their account would be restored if the transponder does not read correctly at the tolling station.

"It's a pretty effective system," Schoch said.

A traveller would only receive one invoice per trip regardless of the number of toll booths they pass.

Although the interstate would be tolled at the same rate as the Pennsylvania Turnpike - 8 cents a mile for passenger cars and trucks and 30 cents a mile for tractor trailers - its structure would be different, he said. While the turnpike tolls users when they exit the road, I-80 will be designed to have "regional users" pay for the maintenance of the highway system by having cashless booths

The rates mean a passenger car using I-80 across the state would be charged $25, while larger trucks would pay $93, he said. The rates would increase 3 percent each year after the tolls start in 2010, if approved by the federal government.

I-80 would also offer a volume discount program for tractor-trailers and invoice them monthly, Schoch said, but would not be allowed to go through one tolling station free of charge like passenger cars.

The commission estimates tolling I-80 would bring in about $450 million in revenue annually.

Schoch said the estimated cost to build the system is $60 million. Because it would not need toll collectors, it would save hundreds of millions of dollars over the first 10 years compared to a traditional tollbooth system, he said.

Questions that still remain to be answered are how many people will be employed to take tolls along the interstate, and, more importantly, the effect it will have on businesses and industries located along the corridor.

Schoch said those questions will be addressed later this year.

"We need to look at not only the impact of tolling to the industries, but what we can employ to offset that," he said. "We need to look at the economic concerns raised, quantify that and possibly address through tax incentive programs."

Schoch said the commission has been on a three-week tour of the I-80 corridor and the new proposals have been "very favorably received" by officials.

"They realized we developed a system to rectify the tolling for commuters," he said. "We designed a system that addressed a major concern people had, but we still have concerns to rectify... We'll see how the public reacts."

Schoch encouraged residents to contact the commission with any comments or concerns at its Web site paturnpike.com.

Turnpike CEO Joe Brimmeier said the commission has submitted an amended application to toll I-80 to the federal government and the commission is "very confident that amended application will be a convincing case to the federal government to give us approval to toll I-80."

Meetings with regional and metropolitan planning organizations were completed on Monday, he said, and that information will be included with the next submission to the federal government next week.

Brimmeier said the commission will also schedule additional meetings for communities along the I-80 corridor in the near future.

"We are very pleased with the progress we have made to date along the I-80 corridor and the implementation of Act 44 (which authorized the I-80 tolling)," he said.