Toll booths are no more, as Pennsylvania Turnpike looks to replace them with overhead readers

It’s time to say goodbye to toll booths along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Overhead structures with sensors that electronically charge tolls to vehicles, called gantries, will take their place.

The plans, approved by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission last week, will build cashless gantries, allowing drivers to pay their toll and maintain their speed.

Gantries are already up in eastern Pennsylvania and are part of open road tolling initiatives that will begin in January 2025, according to turnpike spokesperson Marissa Orbanek. In 2027, open road tolling will begin in Western Pennsylvania.

Demolition of toll booths will begin in 2026, Orbanek said, with hopes of finishing the whole project in late 2028. Motorists will not need to commute any differently until demolition begins. The schedule for demolition isn’t set yet.

Gantries are already operational, including those on the Southern Beltway near Pittsburgh and the Delaware River Bridge, which connects Bristol Township to Burlington, in Burlington County.

Once the project is completed, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission expects to save $25 million a year in maintenance and construction costs.

Open road tolling is the cashless collection of tolls. This is done through two methods: The gantry will scan an E-ZPass transponder or will capture a driver’s license plate and send an invoice through the mail.

In 2020, the Turnpike Commission decided to go fully cashless and laid off about 500 employees. Today, there is no one working the toll booths, and no jobs were affected by last week’s decision.

The gantries will lessen congestion on the turnpike and aim to decrease accidents caused by vehicles slowing down before entering toll booths.

“Open road tolling is the future of tolling for our nation and is being implemented throughout the nation,” Orbanek said. “We’ve been working on this for 15 years and are really excited to start this in January.”