HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will increase in January 2015 for the seventh consecutive year.

The turnpike commission on June 17 approved a 5 percent increase that will be applied evenly to cash and electronic E-ZPass tolls — marking the first time in three years that cash tolls are not subject to a steeper increase.

Nearly three out of four turnpike drivers now use E-ZPass, tolls for which are at least 35 percent less than cash tolls, officials said.

The new rates, which take effect Jan. 4, will nudge the cost of the most common toll for passenger vehicles by a nickel to $1.09 for E-ZPass users and by a dime to $1.70 for cash customers, according to the commission.

The most common toll for tractor-trailers will increase from $8.62 to $9.05 for E-ZPass users and from $12.15 to $12.80 for cash customers.

Mark Compton, the turnpike’s chief executive, said annual toll increases are necessary “for the foreseeable future” to comply with laws requiring the commission to pay $450 million a year to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for highway and bridge work outside the 550-mi. turnpike. Under the transportation funding law approved last year, those payments are scheduled to shrink to $50 million a year by 2023.

Compton said the commission is working to hold down costs and that the popularity of E-ZPass has allowed a reduction in the number of toll collectors.

While the new transportation funding law “does provide long-term financial relief, it does not eliminate our debt or funding obligation,” he said.

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