The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission maintains it will need annual toll increases until 2044 to cover costs.
Drivers on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will pay 6 percent higher tolls starting Jan. 8, 2017, the ninth straight annual increase, officials announced Tuesday.
The turnpike commission said a year ago it anticipates the need for annual toll hikes of 3 to 6 percent until 2044.
All those increases are still seen as necessary, but Tuesday's announcement came with a pledge to review spending and consider a hiring freeze during this fiscal year that began July 1.
"I have directed executive staff to perform a comprehensive reevaluation of all highway and bridge projects, including those now under way, to ensure we are focusing on projects that are the most relevant to our strategic objectives," commission Chairman Sean Logan said in a statement. "Every project will be analyzed as part of this review. No project will be exempt."
Pennsylvania's turnpike network turned 75 in 2015, and annual toll hikes are needed to pay off debt taken out for maintaining and improving the aging infrastructure, Logan stated.
"Revenues from this increase will fund a newly approved, 10-year spending plan which invests more than $5.77 billion in our system in the coming decade -- a large part of which will support ongoing total reconstruction and widening projects," he stated.
Where you can hit 70 mph on the turnpike
About half of the commission's $1.1 billion in toll revenue forecast in Fiscal Year 2017, or $573 million, will go toward debt repayment. Logan said that without significant changes, traffic and revenue predictions maintain the need for annual toll hikes of up to 6 percent until 2044.
Some of the new revenue will also go toward the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission's obligation under state law to contribute to non-turnpike transportation projects. The commission says that since 2007 it has provided funding to the state, invested by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in non-toll highways and public transportation.
During the last nine years, the commission says it has provided $5.2 billion to PennDOT, of which $2.25 billion has supported highways while $2.95 billion has supported transit.
Under the state transportation-funding law enacted in 2013, the commission's funding obligation to PennDOT will drop from $450 million a year to $50 million a year beginning July 1, 2023.
"While this measure provides some relief, it does not wipe out the turnpike's debt or requirement to help fund PennDOT," stated turnpike CEO Mark Compton. "We are still obligated to make further payments through 2057 totaling approximately $5 billion.
"Therefore, the commission is bound to increase tolls each year."
The 2017 hike raises tolls an equal percentage for those paying cash and the E-ZPass consumers whose tolls comprise more than 77 of transactions on the 552-mile turnpike system.
The most common toll for a passenger vehicle will increase next year from $1.16 to $1.23 for E-ZPass customers and from $1.80 to $1.95 for cash customers. The most common toll for a Class-5 vehicle -- a prevalent tractor-trailer class -- will increase from $9.59 to $10.17 for E-ZPass and from $13.60 to $14.45 for cash.
Toll rates will not increase next year on the turnpike's Delaware River Bridge cashless tolling point northeast of Philadelphia. Tolls at that location will remain at 2016 rates.
Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.