In January of this year, the Pennsylvania’s Auditor General proclaimed that the Pennsylvania Turnpike was “drowning in debt” to which the Turnpike CEO responded that it was “simply not true”. He elaborated by saying that the Turnpike “has developed a sound, fiscally responsible approach to meet all of its financial obligations…”. Seven months later, in another news article, the CEO’s attitude seems to have changed a bit as he admits that the Turnpike cannot continue its policy of raising fares and issuing more and more debt for the long term. But given the circumstances he claims this is the best the Commission can do and the strategy does not pose an immediate threat. In other words, we are okay in the very short run, but this is going to get very messy in a couple of years.
