SemperFidelis wrote:To save non residents from having to read up on PA Act 44, boy did they screw the pooch on that.
Apparently the Turnpike Commission has to pay around $450 million per year to PennDot, a number they agreed upon when they thought they were going to add tolls to I-80, all across the state, to help fix our deplorable road system. Then, of course, they decided not to add tolls to I-80, so the entire cost of the annual payment must be bourne by PA Turnpike users.
A trip from one end of our crumbling state to another is now over $40 for a passenger automobile. Incredible.
I just want to provide some context. A family member of mine works for PennDOT and was mentioning this problem. What happened was the turnpike commission tried to toll I-80 but the Federal government told them to pound sand,
citing that federal dollars were used to build I-80. Three times the Commission tried, and three times the Feds told them to go away
The reason for the payment has been that PennDOT and the Turnpike Commission are two separate entities, and the turnpike commission for the most part kept money in its own spot. The point of the act was to help balance the budget gambling on the money coming in from I-80 as you said, so they are indeed screwed.