Plan for I-80: No tolls for short runs

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, August, 2008 | by Mario F. Cattabiani Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG - If Washington allows I-80 to be turned into a toll road, most short-distance drivers on the heavily traveled interstate wouldn't pay any fees at all under a plan presented yesterday by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. By stretching out collection stations and giving local drivers incentives to use E-ZPass, seven out of 10 cars, pickup trucks, SUVs and school buses would be spared tolls.

Under the plan, there would not be toll collectors or even the option to pay cash. Instead, an electronic arch, or "gantry," would be erected over nine toll locations across the 311-mile interstate that would read E-ZPass transponders in what is known as "open-road tolling." Motorists would pass under the gantries at regular highway speeds, avoiding backups normally...