U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for October 24: The Open Road

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

THE OPEN ROAD

Profile America — Monday, October 24th. The first limited access, divided superhighway in America opened this month 76 years ago — the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In 1940, the road extended 160 miles, and featured seven tunnels, 10 service plazas, and 11 interchanges. Now part of the Interstate Highway System, the turnpike has been improved and extended, and at 514 miles, is more than triple its original length. A passenger vehicle traveling the entire 360 miles of the main line today pays $42.30 in cash upon exit. Pennsylvania collects some $1 billion annually from turnpike tolls, while spending about $7 billion on all of its roads. Nationally, states spend $94 billion per year on their highways. Profile America is in its 20th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:
Turnpike story/accessed 7/29/2016: https://www.paturnpike.com/yourTurnpike/ptc_history.aspx
East to west/accessed 7/29/2016: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=8188
Toll calculation/pg. 32/accessed 7/29/2016: https://www.paturnpike.com/toll/tollmileage.aspx
Revenue/page 3: https://www.paturnpike.com/pdfs/business/finance/May2016TandR.pdf
State spending: http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/SLF/2013/SLF003

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotion of the U.S. Census Bureau. Statistics and accounts drawn from cited non-Census sources are employed for illustrative or narrative purposes, and are not attested to by the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Audio" in the "Library" pull-down menu).

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

CONTACT: Rick Reed, 301-763-2812; or e-mail: richard.thomas.reed-at-census.gov