Many Motorists Getting ‘Free Ride’ on Pennsylvania Turnpike

The Associated Press reports over $104 million in Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls went uncollected last year as the agency fully converted to all-electronic tolling.

AP took a look at Turnpike records which show the millions of motorists who don’t use E-ZPass have a nearly 1 in 2 chance of riding without paying under the “toll-by-plate” license plate camera system.

There were about 170 million turns on the turnpike by motorists but, according to the turnpike, almost 11 million of those rides generated no money for the Turnpike Authority,  The Pa. Turnpike already had been reporting its bad debt expense over the past seven years had grown by over four-fold.

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According to the AP report, about 10-thousand Pennsylvania vehicle registrations are currently suspended for overdue toll bills, but that doesn't apply to out-of-state drivers.