There may be no such thing as a free lunch, if the old saying is to be believed, but for far too many drivers there is such a thing as a free Pennsylvania Turnpike toll, and it is costing us law-abiding users a ton of money in, among other things, unending toll increases.

To address this problem, state Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor has released a performance audit for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission which regulates the 82-year-old toll road, the oldest of its kind in the nation.

See if you can wrap your head around this: The Pennsylvania Turnpike has more debt than the entire state government, and, at the moment, the only way to pay for it is to keep raising tolls.

DeFoor said that this is unsustainable in the long run, so there needs to be “innovative ideas and different solutions to rectify an issue that is decades in the making.”

Excuse my skepticism, but I have seen zero innovation in addressing this long-standing problem. Like clockwork, twice a year the turnpike commission announces toll increases. We mutter to ourselves and vow to find alternatives but keep going back to the turnpike and paying these ungodly tolls.

Half the time, there is either construction or repair work going on, so the concept that we are paying these tolls for speed, convenience, efficient and safe travel and other benefits of a superhighway gets dashed. How many times have I been backed up in traffic between the Lehigh Valley and the Mahoning Valley interchanges wondering to myself, “And I’m paying a toll for THIS?”

I am paying it, but a lot of people without E-Z Pass transponders are not. In fact, according to testimony last fall before Pennsylvania state senators on the Transportation Committee, these lawbreakers have a one in two chance of getting away with it. Those are odds I’d love to get at Wind Creek in Bethlehem, Mount Airy near Mount Pocono or Mohegan Sun in Luzerne County.

There was nearly $105 million in uncollected tolls from turnpike trips. DeFoor did not give a specific number in his report, but he did say that “uncollected tolls have continued to increase and therefore, the Commission must continue to seek new ways to collect tolls due from both in and out-of-state travelers.”

Of course, turnpike officials are not forthcoming about this embarrassing information. Last year, a media inquiry by The Associated Press pried open the data through a Right-to-Know request to the state’s Office of Open Records.

Many of us have the E-Z Pass transponder, which records our license plate then debits our account when we pass through a toll plaza. Those who do not have E-Z Pass are supposed to be charged by what is called a “toll-by-plate” system, where drivers are sent a bill and are expected to pay in a timely fashion. Remember, there are no toll-takers on the turnpike any more, a change that was made during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many legislators are as astounded by the level of noncompliance as we law-abiding motorists are, but so far there have been no legislative fixes. Turnpike Executive Director Mark Compton called the situation “leakage” and said earlier in the year that the turnpike’s collection rate of 93% is comparable to other turnpike operations in the country.

DeFoor said the legislators share some of the blame for this disgraceful situation. “The Turnpike Commission didn’t get into this situation by itself. The legislature and executive branch need to work together now to ensure the Turnpike is financially viable for the future,” DeFoor said. He also said that annual toll increases continue to place an undue burden on turnpike travelers.

The auditor general reported three findings and 23 recommendations for improvement. One of the major recommendations asks the General Assembly to take another look at Acts 44 and 89 that compel toll money to subsidize the state Transportation Department that adds to the turnpike commission’s debt and asks the legislators to draft new legislation to reduce the debt burden.

Auditors also found that almost a quarter of uncollected tolls occurred because of unpaid invoices, unidentified license plates or because PennDOT either had the wrong address or no address of the person to be charged. “As a result,” DeFoor reported, “$104.9 million remains as uncollected Commission revenue.” Auditors highlighted 11 recommendations to improve collections that include looking at more consistent enforcement.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.