Record 54.9 million vehicles used Ohio Turnpike last year

BEREA, Ohio

The Ohio Turnpike says a record of 54.9 million vehicles traveled last year on the 241-mile toll road that crosses the state.

The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission reports that the total beat the previous record in 2015, which was 53.4 million.

The commission says it recorded the second most number of vehicle miles traveled— 3.037 billion miles. The record was set in 2006 and is about 2.6 million more than last year.

According to the commission, 57.1 percent of vehicles used E-ZPass, an increase of 2.2 percent. The turnpike collected $288 million in toll revenue in 2016. The commission says that was a 2.9 percent increase compared with $280 million collected in 2015.

Executive Director Randy Cole says relatively low gas prices were among factors in the traffic volume.