PA Turnpike commission gets tough on toll debt, woman allegedly owes $92,000
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette April 12, 2018
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2018/04/12/PA-Turnpike-toll-debts-targets-woman-who-owes-92-000/stories/201804120186
Pennsylvania’s Turnpike commission is chasing down toll welshers. A woman from the Mount Joy Township area, just outside of Harrisburg, accrued nearly $92,000 in debts related to unpaid Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls, according to Lancaster Online.
According to a criminal complaint, Lori Yearick is accused of not paying 1,600 tolls between January 2012 and March 2017. Those routes were mostly between Mechanicsburg and Harrisburg East, an 11-mile trip that currently costs E-ZPass users $1.74. And she was able to avoid paying the tolls by using an E-ZPass only lane even though she didn’t have a valid transponder.
While Ms. Yearick actually owes $26,000 in tolls, the turnpike commission tacked on $66,000 for violation fees relating to the unpaid tolls. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ms. Yearick’s charges are part of the turnpike’s new effort to get more people to pay outstanding fees. So while Ms. Yearick might be the biggest target for the turnpike, there are plenty of others who have avoided paying tolls. In 2016 the state auditor general revealed that as much as $20 million was being lost to unpaid tolls.
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The toll recently went up 6 percent, raising the toll for passenger vehicles that go from Ohio to New Jersey from $51.85 to $55 for cash customers and from $37 to $39.25 for motorists who use the E-ZPass system. In previous years, the agency approved lower hikes for motorists who use E-ZPass to encourage more to use the cashless system.
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As a former resident of NY (upstate Albany area) I spent many years paying tolls on New York roads. Now that I live in western PA but visit NY often, I'm feeling the pain here too. The New York toll roads are far superior to Pennsylvania's by the way, but that's another matter.
The way I feel, if PennDot charges me $55 to drive across Pennsylvania, and I'd better be convinced the road conditions and maintenance are really worth it. It's not - at all! I do give the PennDOT guys credit for awesome snow removal and road salting in the winter. Same is true for the NYS Thruway system. For winter driving I'm happy to pay the tolls and drive on the safer highways maintained by the state. Rest of the year, forget it!
... but that's if you go from Ohio to New Jersey straight across.
Route 80 is a good alternative, but not safe to drive in winter. Frequent white-out snowstorms cause dangerous multi-vehicle accidents, also lots of ground fog areas. I'll take 80 in warm weather though.
