The Most Expensive Road To Drive In America Is Pennsylvania's Mismanaged 'Dream Highway'

Crossing the New Jersey border into Pennsylvania, you cruise onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike, once nicknamed America's "dream highway." It's a breezy option for road-tripping across the whole state, connecting Pennsylvania's major cities from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. But what sounds like a dream is pretty swiftly shattered when you're hit with a toll bill that can top $100. The Pennsylvania Turnpike is consistently ranked the most expensive toll road in the country. It's been called a "scam" by a popular Reddit thread, and the state auditor once deemed it an "unsustainable situation," per CBS News. How the once-revered highway ended up with such a dire reputation comes down to a law passed in 2007 and some debts that followed.

In 2007, the state passed Act 44, which required that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) make large payments to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) each year. The initial payments were as high as $900 million, but later dropped to $450 million and then $50 million, as of 2022. Needless to say, the PTC's debt grew enormously, and its website states that paying off this debt is the sole reason that the Pennsylvania Turnpike's tolls are raised annually — before 2007, only five increases occurred during a span of 64 years.

Todd Spencer, president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Associates, criticized the whole scheme in the CBS News report. "You're going to see more diversion to other roads and also diversion to other states," he said. If more people avoid the turnpike, then less tolls are paid. With less individual drivers paying, the tolls have to increase overall to make up for lost cash flow.

The entire Pennsylvania Turnpike covers 565 miles. It traverses the length of the state with some offshoots, including one that goes to Scranton, the low-cost Pennsylvania gem with diverse dining and art. Though Scranton may have low costs, getting there (via the turnpike, at least) does not. From the Delaware River Bridge, where the turnpike begins at the New Jersey border, it would cost a regular car over $60 by plate to reach its endpoint just outside Scranton, according to its toll calculator at the time of writing. From the Delaware River Bridge to its western gateway would cost around $120 by plate — a quick way to sour a Pennsylvania road trip to some of the state's best lakes.

One caveat: The highest costs are charged by plate readers. If you have an E-ZPass, the cost is halved, so a $120 cross-state drive becomes just over $60. Even with the discount, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is remarkably expensive, though. Driving from end to end on the New York Thruway, for example, would cost just shy of $23 with E-ZPass as of this writing, according to the Thruway Authority toll calculator, despite the New York route covering more mileage than the Pennsylvania Turnpike's mainline.

If you're planning a cross-state road trip or heading to one of Pennsylvania's underrated nature destinations that sit along the highway, it might be worth taking side roads and rerouting if you want to avoid the worst of turnpike tolls. It wouldn't be helping the turnpike's mounting debt situation, but you can make up for the toll money bypassed by spending at some roadside diners along the way.