PA Turnpike’s Open Road Tolling transition to begin Jan 5, all eastern booths to be demolished by 2026

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January 3rd, 2025 | By Ryan Genova

Sunday morning will mark the end of tollbooths and the beginning of Open Road Tolling (ORT) on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission announced this summer its plans to convert its tolling system east of Reading and on the Northeast Extension in January 2025. Rates will be determined by the number of axles and height of any vehicle as opposed to weight, a change intended to bring about more consistency per mile.

Roughly half of passenger car trips will cost drivers less than they paid last year under the new system. Tolls will also increase by five percent on Sunday, the annual increase since 2007.

“Due to changes in rate structure and vehicle classification, 84% of E-ZPass trips will see a toll decrease or an increase of less than $1 in 2025 compared to 2024 rates,” the turnpike said in a statement.


According to the Turnpike’s website, ORT is the preferred option because it:

  • Fulfills customer expectations for seamless, convenient travel
  • Is safer for PA Turnpike drivers and its employees, and it’s better for the environment
  • Allows new access points (interchanges) to be added more easily and at a lower cost, enhancing mobility and reducing traffic at interchanges and on connecting roads
  • Will help save the PA Turnpike more than $25 million a year

Open Road tolls are “charged electronically as customers drive at highway speeds without slowing down or stopping beneath overhead structures — called gantries — located between interchanges,” the Commission said in a statement.

“The advent of Open Road Tolling will advance safety and allow for the safe movement of vehicle traffic across our network. Pennsylvania is the great American Getaway and Open Road Tolling will get traveling members of the public to destinations across our great Commonwealth in a safe an efficient manner,” said PA Turnpike Chairman and PennDOT Secretary Michael Carroll. “It’s a great day in Pennsylvania and another giant step forward for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.” 

The turnpike will start demolishing eastern booths later this year until they are gone by the end of 2026. The toll road from New Jersey to Ohio is due to have converted to ORT by the end of 2027.

More details can be found here.

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