Notices

PA Turnpike Launches Open Road Tolling

This January, the PA Turnpike launched Open Road Tolling (ORT) east of Reading and along the Northeast Extension. The rest of the PA Turnpike will adopt the change in 2027.

Under the ORT system, tolls are charged electronically as customers drive at highway speeds beneath overhead structures called gantries without slowing down or stopping at toll booths. Equipment on the gantry and in the roadway classifies and identifies the vehicle and electronically processes tolls, allowing for free-flowing traffic, while also reducing accidents, improving the environment and enabling new access points. You will begin to see toll booth demolition this spring.

ORT Requires Your E-ZPass Transponder to Be Properly Mounted

Properly mounting your E-ZPass transponder is critical for its functionality and roadway safety. A properly mounted transponder is needed to ensure that your E-ZPass is accurately read and that you are charged the correct toll.

Transponders are 99.5% effective when installed properly. Here is how to mount a transponder:

• Clean the area on the windshield before mounting.
• Remove the transponder from its packaging.
• Mount the transponder horizontally under the rear-view mirror, below shaded or black-dot areas, by pressing the suction cups against the windshield or removing the adhesive strip on the Velcro mounting strips and pressing to the windshield.

When you are mounting the transponder, there are three important things you should avoid:

• DO NOT place the transponder vertically.
• DO NOT mount it inside of black dots or the shaded area on your windshield.
• DO NOT manually hold the transponder or leave it on your dashboard.

Call the PA Turnpike’s Customer Service Center if you have any questions or suspect your transponder may need replaced. Check out this video to learn more about properly mounting your transponder.

ORT Will Change the Way Your E-ZPass and Toll By Plate Invoices Look

E-ZPass statements or Toll By Plate invoices for travel in ORT areas may be longer and show individual charges for each gantry passed. This toll-point formatting will be familiar to those regularly traveling through the Clarks Summit, Keyser Avenue, Southern Beltway and Delaware River Bridge exits, where ORT is already live.

West of the Reading Interchange, a single trip charge will be displayed based on your entry and exit.

If your trip includes both ORT and traditional tolling points, your bill will list individual gantry charges for travel east of the Reading Interchange and display a single trip for your western travel either with an entry point of T291, if you are traveling west, or an exit point of T291 if traveling east.

When the entire system moves to Open Road Tolling in 2027, all charges will be assessed at gantries and single trip charges will cease.

To learn more about ORT, visit www.PATurnpike.com/ORT.

Through bipartisan efforts between the Shapiro Administration and the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is pleased to announce that due to changes established in Act 60 of 2024, signed by Governor Shapiro in July, the annual income threshold for a retired Pennsylvanian to qualify for a reduced vehicle registration fee was increased, allowing more people to be eligible for this benefit. Additionally, some veterans may now be eligible for free vehicle registration and titling fees.

Previously, the annual income threshold for a retired customer to qualify for a reduced registration fee of $11 annually was $19,200.  Beginning December 16, 2024, the annual income threshold increases to $29,906 and will be subject to annual Consumer Price Index adjustments.

For qualifying customers to receive the reduced vehicle registration fee of $11, they must complete and submit Form MV-371, “Application for a Retired Person’s Processing Fee of a Vehicle Registration.  ”Customers should attach the completed form to their invitation to renew and return it to PennDOT to be processed. The $11 annual fee will be applied after the application is processed. More information on eligibility requirements can be found on PennDOT’s Driver and Vehicle Services website.

Act 60 also provides for the elimination of registration and title fees for one passenger vehicle or truck weighing 9,000 pounds or less owned by military veterans who meet the following requirements (license plate fees still apply):

• Vehicles registered to a veteran who lost a limb or eye or who became partially paralyzed while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States.
• Vehicles registered to a person who, as a member or the Armed Forces of the United States, was captured by the enemy in any armed conflict for which the Department of Defense authorizes a campaign medal.
• Vehicles registered to a person who has been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
• Vehicles registered to a person who has been awarded the Purple Heart.

For more information about driver licensing and vehicle services for veterans, visit PennDOT’s driver and vehicle services website.