The Senate Transportation Committee held another hearing today.  This time the subject was the PA Turnpike.  The biggest news appears to be the discovery of a previously unknown perk to Turnpike employees, the use of the highway for free.  Employees are either issued an EZ Pass or flash their Turnpike ID card to ride without paying a toll.  I don’t think the members of the committee were upset about employees going to and from work stations, the concern was about personal use.  The Turnpike official explained that the employees are not permitted to use this privilege for other than official business, but admitted that there was no tracking system to check on the usage.  This reminds me of the bill we recently passed requiring tracking of state vehicles because there were stories of people going to the beach on vacation, etc. with a state car.  Senator John Rafferty told the Turnpike to fix the problem or the legislature will fix it for you.  Way to go John!

-John