Drivers could soon pay Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls using a smartphone app.

The launch of the app is expected later this year, Turnpike Commission spokesman Carl DeFebo said. The idea of offering the app is twofold: provide customers different options to pay tolls as well as work toward eliminating collectors from booths by 2022…

Passport, a Charlotte-based government tech company that’s contracted to create its first tolling app, is currently pilot-testing the mobile payment solution using Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission employees. The app is not yet available to download.

“You pay by trip,” DeFebo said of the new app. “The longer a distance you travel, the more you pay. The app will use the phone’s GPS within the pike and base the toll on where you enter and exit.”

Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission CEO Mark Compton has been traveling statewide promoting the use of innovation. But the app is not going to replace E-ZPass transponders any time soon, he said.
More>>