Jul 10, 2008 11:49 pm US/Eastern
DRPA: $1 Toll Increase In Sept., $1 In 2010
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) ―
Daily commuters who travel between New Jersey and Philadelphia could see their tolls more than double by September 2010.
The Delaware River Port Authority on Thursday announced a proposal to raise tolls over the next two years on the Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross Bridges. Fares on its PATCO Speedline train that connects Philadelphia with southern New Jersey would also go up.
The first increases would kick in on Sept. 14 if the authority's board of directors, which is controlled largely by the governors of the two states, approves the increases.
Bridge tolls would rise $1 this September and another $1 in September 2010 for passenger cars.
Drivers pay only in one direction, as they cross from New Jersey to Philadelphia. The current toll is $3.
Regular drivers would feel the increases most. Now, those who use E-ZPass and travel through the toll plazas 18 times a month get an $18 monthly discount. The discount would be phased out over the next two years.
Also under the plan, tolls would go up every other year beginning in 2013 with the amount based on the Consumer Price Index.
Senior citizens could still get discounts, though. And drivers of hybrid cars that get at least 45 miles per gallon would also get a $1 discount for each round trip.
The PATCO fares would rise by 10 percent this September and another 10 percent in 2010 -- with every-other year increases after that.
PATCO fares now range from $1.15 to $2.45 per trip. In 2010, a one-way ride could cost as much as $3.
The increases would be the first on the bridges since 2000 and the first for the PATCO line since 2001.
DRPA CEO John J. Matheussen said the agency, which has often been criticized for the hundreds of million it has spent on economic development projects over the past 16 years, would use the new money only for transportation projects.
Matheussen said the increases are needed to cover a plan to spend $1 billion maintaining and upgrading the bridges and train line over the next five years. The projects range from completing a paint job for the Ben Franklin Bridge to continuing planning on a PATCO expansion.
Matheussen said the agency is trying to go easier on drivers by phasing in the increases over two years.
"We know these are difficult economic times," he said.
At a news conference, he outlined how the staff of the agency has shrunk by 12 percent and said other cost-cutting measures have been put in place.
Matheussen said what most bothers most commuters is that their toll and fare dollars in the past have gone to pay for economic development programs -- many of them aimed at turning the Delaware River waterfront into a tourist destination.
Since 1992, the DRPA spent about $300 million on such projects as building a minor-league baseball stadium, converting the USS New Jersey into a museum and planning a light and sound show that never materialized for the Camden waterfront.
Matheussen said about $34 million remains in accounts for that type of project, but that no new money would go into that fund.
Public hearings on the proposed increase are scheduled for July 22 in Camden and July 23 in Philadelphia. The July 22 hearing will be held at the Rutgers-Camden campus and the July 23 hearing will be held at the Cruise Terminal in South Philadelphia. Both hearings will be from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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