INFORMATION

THE OHIO TURNPIKE IS AN OHIO ASSET AND MUST REMAIN AN OHIO ASSET

The Ohio Turnpike must not be privatized:

• The Ohio Turnpike was paid for by our customers.
  • Revenues from our customers and advertising pay employee salaries, maintenance, snow removal, repair and upkeep of the road, toll plazas and service plazas and any other expenses that maybe incurred.
• The State of Ohio pays nothing for the operation of the Ohio Turnpike.
• The Ohio Turnpike is operated by the Ohio Turnpike Commission and not the State of Ohio.
• The Ohio Turnpike pays the State of Ohio fuel taxes and service plaza sales taxes.
• The Ohio State Patrol patrols the Ohio Turnpike.
  • Toll revenues reimbursed the Ohio State Highway Patrol for all costs of operating on the Ohio Turnpike.  ($15,529,000 in 2009)
• The employees of the Ohio Turnpike pay the State of Ohio income tax.
• The employees of the Ohio Turnpike are employees of the Ohio Turnpike Commission and not the State of Ohio.
• The Ohio Turnpike is a 241-mile road with 31 toll plazas and 14 service plazas.
• The Ohio Turnpike is maintained by self generated income which adds nothing to Ohio residents’ federal or state taxes.

Since opening the turnpike in 1955 the Consumer Price Index has increased 657%, the Ohio Fuel Tax per Gallon increased by 460%, but the Ohio Turnpike tolls for passenger car travelers increased by only 242%.

The Ohio Turnpike is the best maintained highway in Ohio. Service crews are stationed about every 30 miles to keep the roadway in safe condition year round.

In 2009, cars and trucks logged over 3 billion miles of Turnpike driving with an accident rate less than half the national average.

Yes, you have inherited a tremendous debt, and have many problems to face in the next four years, but please consider your long term results, and not just a temporary, quick fix action. You will be judged as to the wisdom of your actions, and their implications, over a long period of time.

Please do what’s right for Ohioans, not just what is right for the politicians and their budget, which they have destroyed over many years. Keep the Ohio Turnpike “The Ohio Turnpike”.