Media & Public Relations


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

Contact:

Joe Agnello
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission
Desk (717) 920-7176

April 9, 2008

 

E-ZPass Expanding to Mon/Fayette Links, Sign-ups Set at Three Locations


HARRISBURG, PA (04/09/2008) The convenience of E-ZPass electronic toll collection will be available starting Monday, April 21 at the two northernmost mainline toll plazas on the Mon/Fayette Expressway (Turnpike 43) and remaining fare collection points on the system are to be brought "online" later this year.

In conjunction with the expansion of E-ZPass services, Pennsylvania Turnpike representatives will be stationed at three key locations over the next few weeks to sign up drivers who have not yet enrolled in the program.

Sign-up teams will be stationed at the California mainline toll plaza at Milepost 35 in eastern Washington County and at the Jefferson Hills mainline toll plaza at Milepost 52 in southeastern Allegheny County from 8 am to 4 pm Monday, April 21 through Friday, April 25.

Turnpike representatives also will operate an E-ZPass registration table in the Natali Student Center at California University of Pennsylvania. Hours of operation will be 10 am to 3 pm on Monday, April 14; Thursday, April 17; Friday, April 18; Wednesday, April 23; Tuesday, April 29; and Wednesday, April 30.

Registrants will leave with an E-ZPass "tag" they can use immediately in any fare collection lane, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, where the purple and white E-ZPass logo is displayed. To enroll, a registrant must provide their driver license, license plate number and a major credit card.

The tag is a small transponder mounted on the windshield that sends a signal to an overhead reader in the toll lane. The devices interact to classify vehicles and deduct appropriate fares from pre-paid accounts while drivers keep moving.

As of Monday, April 21, E-ZPass lanes will be operational at the mainline fare collection facilities in California and Jefferson Hills. Later this year, E-ZPass services will be expanded further to include the Turnpike 43 mainline plaza on the Mon/Fayette Expressway's "Mason Dixon" Link in Georges Township, Fayette County and ramp plazas serving mid-Monongahela River Valley communities such as Charleroi, Mon City, New Eagle, Eighty Four, and Finleyville.

Two movements are tolled at Mon/Fayette entry and exit points in the mid-Mon Valley. Northbound drivers are tolled upon exiting. Southbound drivers are tolled upon entry. Drivers who do not pass through the mainline plaza in Jefferson Hills will pass through fare collection at one of the ramp plazas. It is impossible to be tolled at the mainline plaza and at a ramp plaza if you are using the Mon/Fayette Expressway (one direction) north of Interstate 70.

A new eight-mile segment of the Mon/Fayette system between the Uniontown and Brownsville areas will be "E-ZPass-ready" upon its scheduled opening in October 2008.

Pennsylvania's E-ZPass program functions seamlessly with other Northeastern and Atlantic Seaboard facilities and a growing consortium of toll road agencies extending as far west as Illinois. The Ohio Turnpike is expected to be E-ZPass-ready by Summer 2009.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike launched E-ZPass on a regional basis in December 2000. Electronic toll collection has been available on the entire Ohio-to-New Jersey mainline and most of the Interstate 476 Northeast Extension to Scranton since December 2002. All other Turnpike tolling points in southwestern Pennsylvania, with the exception of those on the Mon/Fayette Expressway, were E-ZPass-ready as of February 2007.

It costs as little as $38 per transponder to open an E-ZPass account, with $35 of that being a pre-paid balance that does not expire. It's easiest to pay by credit card or debit card and authorize automatic replenishment when your pre-paid balance drops below $10. Transponders can be moved between vehicles.

Vehicle owners can enroll through the Turnpike's Web site at www.paturnpike.com, by calling toll-free 1-877-736-6727, by visiting any American Automobile Association (AAA) office in the Pittsburgh region, using the "Tag Teller" E-ZPass vending machine at the New Stanton Service Plaza (Milepost 77.6 westbound on Interstate 76) or by obtaining E-ZPass "Go Paks" at participating Giant Eagle and Get Go stores.

 

###