Tri-State commuters, get ready for more toll increases. Starting March 31st. tolls will go up at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) bridges and tunnels. For travelers to New York, the most expensive toll on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge will go up from $17 to $19. Tolls on the Bronx-Whitestone, Throgs Neck, Robert F. Kennedy bridges and the Hugh Carey and Queens-Midtown Tunnels will increase from $8.50 to $9.50 for tolls paid by mail. At $17 per trip, the 55-year-old Verrazzano is already ranked among the priciest crossings in the country. For reference, Virginia’s 23-mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel increased to $18 in January.
Below is a link showing these updated chargers in table form:
https://new.mta.info/sites/default/files/2019-03/B%26T_toll_tables_03-08-19.pdf
Some good news: In January, the request for a $1 toll increase on the Delaware Memorial Bridge was vetoed by Governor Phil Murphy. The Delaware River and Bay Authority has argued that the higher toll rate would help fund important infrastructure investments. Murphy stated the funding should be for “critical safety enhancements.” Bridge tolls have accounted for about 75 percent of DRBA revenue in recent years.
Earlier this year, tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike increased by 6 percent, according to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Effective January 6, the most common toll for E-ZPass customers will rise from $1.30 to $1.38, the commission reported, and from $2.10 to $2.25 for drivers paying cash. This additional revenue will go toward maintenance of the state’s 552-mile turnpike system and cover a mandated obligation that the commission provide $450 million to PennDot each year for transit funding. In Pennsylvania, tolls have increased every year since 2009, in part to pay for a long-term turnpike reconstruction project and to handle debt service.
