HARRISBURG -- Motorists should take a few extra shekels with them when they get onto the Pennsylvania Turnpike starting Jan. 4, because toll prices will be going up by a hefty 25 percent.

Drivers shouldn't be surprised, turnpike commission officials say, because the toll hike was included in Act 44 of 2007, approved nearly 18 months ago as a way to generate $2.5 billion from August 2007 through May 2010 in order to shore up Pennsylvania's ailing roads, bridges and mass transit systems.

"Our customers need to know that the revenue from the [turnpike] tollbooth is now being reinvested in the state's transportation systems and its economy," Chief Executive Officer Joe Brimmeier said at a news conference yesterday.

Act 44, approved in July 2007, made a fundamental change in how road and bridge repairs are funded in Pennsylvania, he said.

"For the first time, toll income isn't only going back into our toll roads," like the turnpike's east-west mainline and its northeast extension, Mr. Brimmeier said. Now, the toll increase is "helping to fund infrastructure improvements in every corner of Pennsylvania."

Starting Jan. 4, the cost to travel from the Pittsburgh exit to the Irwin exit will rise by 20 cents -- 95 cents instead of the current 75 cents. The toll from Pittsburgh to New Stanton will be $1.60, up from $1.25. Driving from the Pittsburgh exit to Breezewood will cost $8.15 instead of the current $6.50. To go from the Ohio line all the way to New Jersey will be $28.45, up from the present $22.75.

The cost to go from the Delaware River Bridge (on the Pennsylvania-New Jersey line) westward to Ohio will be only $24.70, because a $3.75 flat fee is paid only by motorists entering Pennsylvania from Ohio, not by drivers heading west into Ohio.

Rates also will be increased on other toll roads operated by the turnpike commission, including Route 60 and Toll 66 (Greensburg Bypass).

More information on the new toll rates is available to www.paturnpike.com. Click on "toll info" and "toll/mileage calculator" on the left hand column.

This will be just the first of regular, annual toll increases. Starting in January 2010, turnpike tolls will rise each January by 3 percent, or about the usual rate of inflation.

The 25 percent toll increase will pay off $2.5 billion in borrowed money, which will be spent on transportation over three fiscal years, 2007-08 to 2009-10. Of the total, about 55 percent will go to non-turnpike roads and bridges in the state, about 40 percent goes to mass transit and the rest goes for county and municipal roads and bridges.

Mr. Brimmeier said this new toll increase is only the sixth since the turnpike opened in 1940. The last increase, of 43 percent, occurred in August 2004. He said there were only a few complaints from motorists then and he doesn't anticipate an outcry this time, since the money is urgently needed to improve roads, bridges and transit.

He declined to say if the turnpike commission, in 2009, will renew its application to the federal government to put first-time tolls on Interstate 80. That was another element of Act 44, but the feds turned the application down earlier this year. I-80 tolls would have generated additional funds to maintain I-80 and free up PennDOT funds for other road projects. Turnpike officials will talk to state legislators next year about the I-80 application, he said.

Mr. Brimmeier said steps are being taken to reduce operating costs. He saved about $3.5 million by cutting about 60 of the 2,300 jobs, either through attrition, layoffs or eliminating unfilled jobs. Turnpike officials are also keeping maintenance trucks longer to save money.

It isn't known yet if turnpike employees might have to forgo future pay raises or cost-of-living adjustments, as some state workers are being forced to do because of a widening state budget deficit.

Commonwealth Foundation President Matthew Brouillette, a strong advocate of leasing the turnpike to a private operator and eliminating the turnpike commission, said turnpike officials should take at least a small pay cut to help cut costs.

"We will be paying higher tolls to support some of the highest salaries in state government," he said, adding that Mr. Brimmeier earns $192,705, which is far more than Gov. Ed Rendell's $170,000.

"Every penny we pay in higher tolls is subsidizing the salaries, benefits and patronage at the turnpike commission," he added. "Clearly, Brimmeier is not going to feel our pain."