C  O  M  M  I  S  S  I  O  N       N  E  W  S       R  E  L  E  A  S  E

Contact:  

May 17, 2001

 

E-ZPASS EASIER TO USE ON PA TURNPIKE
Customers Can Use Tags at Six Additional Exits Starting May 19

Carlisle (PA) May 17, 2001 – Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Executive Director John Durbin today announced the Turnpike’s E-ZPass program will expand to 6 additional exits. Starting Saturday, May 19, 2001, E-ZPass customers will be able to use their tags between exits 16-Carlisle on the east-west mainline and 37-Wyoming Valley Toll Plaza on the northeastern extension. Durbin also encouraged customers not yet enrolled in the E-ZPass program to sign up today at www.paturnpike.com.

"We’ve issued close to 90,000 E-ZPass tags and have an average of 70,000 customers enjoying the ease and convenience of electronic toll collection every day. Now E-ZPass gets even easier to use on the Turnpike with the addition of 6 interchanges to our E-ZPass program," said Durbin.

With the initial launch of E-ZPass for passenger vehicles only – no trucks or buses – traveling exits 18-Harrisburg West through 33-Lehigh Valley on Dec. 2, 2000, the Pennsylvania Turnpike E-ZPass program reached 65 percent of its customers. By adding 6 additional interchanges the Turnpike will reach nearly 70 percent of all customers traveling the Turnpike system. E-ZPass is now available at exits:

• 16-Carlisle and 17-Gettysburg Pike on the east-west mainline;
• 34-Mahoning Valley, 35-Pocono, 36-Wilkes-Barre, and 37-Wyoming Valley Toll Plaza on the northeastern extension.

Durbin expects E-ZPass to be available statewide for passenger vehicles by fall 2001, and available to trucks and buses in 2002.

"We urge all customers to pay close attention to all signs, particularly at interchanges and in lanes with E-ZPass, where the speed limit is 5 miles per hour," continued Durbin. "The safety of our employees and customers is of the utmost importance."

Durbin said increasing enrollment will continue to be a priority because the more customers enroll the more successful the program will be. The easiest way to enroll or check account status is at www.paturnpike.com or by calling 1-877-PENN-PASS.

E-ZPass brochures and applications are also available at Turnpike interchanges.

After customers enroll in the Turnpike’s E-ZPass program and establish a prepaid account they will receive an E-ZPass tag, about the size of a deck of cards. Customers mount the tag on the windshield of their car, behind the rearview mirror. Once properly mounted, the tag registers customer entry and exit, and charges the appropriate toll, which is electronically transmitted to the Turnpike E-ZPass customer service center where accounts are adjusted.

E-ZPass, the convenient way for customers to pay tolls without stopping and fumbling for change or tickets, is being used by millions of people who travel up and down the Northeast corridor through Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and West Virginia.

Turnpike spokespersons will be available to the media for interviews at area interchanges on launch day, Saturday, May 19, 2001, starting at 8 a.m. through 4 p.m. On Monday, May 21, spokespersons will be available beginning at 8 a.m.

Please call Kathy Liebler at 717-939-9551 ext. 2840 for more information or to schedule an interview.

###

 P.O. Box 67676, Harrisburg, PA 17106-7676         Phone: (717) 939-9551         Fax: (717) 986-9649