toll increases

Friday August 19 was Capitulation Day at the Port Authority New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ).

Facing serious shortfalls in revenue Port Authority New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ) staff are proposing major increases in tolls in September. Peakhour roundtrip toll rates for cars on the six New York-New Jersey crossings would rise from $8 now with an E-ZPass account to $12 or by 50% while off-peak tolls, now $6, would go to $10 or 67% up.

Cash tolls for cars would increase the most, going from $8 now to $15 or 88%.

Illinois Tollway staff and consultants are proposing big toll increases for cars to support a 15 year capital program that's about 70% repair and 30% new capacity. Toll rates for cars would rise between 88% and 100% in the new year, while truck tolls would grow at previously announced levels in 2015.  At least for cars toll rates in Illinois are low in the sense that they are well below revenue maximizing levels.

Chairman of the Maryland Transportation Authority (MdTA) and state secretary of transportation Beverley Swaim-Staley says that the state toll authority needs to increase its revenues on its present $305m/year by $80m to $90m a year next year and by a total of at least $200m to $500m/yr in 2013. The Baltimore Sun carried a report yesterday of the proposed toll increases which are the largest in years, but come after a long period of frozen toll rates.

Substantial increases in tolls are being proposed by staff for the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Under the proposal car tolls for single trips would go from $3.00 to $4.00 or 33%. Deeply discounted commuter and frequent traveler programs would be much less deeply discounted after a phase-in of higher rates July 1 this year, the end of the year and July 1 2012..

The Metro Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) has been raking in the toll revenues on the Dulles Toll Road since they took it over from Virginia DOT in November 2008. After a major toll increase Jan 1, 2010 eleven months revenues in 2010 have been $81.2m vs $59.8m in the same 11 months of 2009. That's a rise of 36% and about an annual $88m.

The City of Chesapeake which operates the Chesapeake Expressway is proposing a new toll structure with sharply higher toll rates on in-season, summer weekends when the tollroad is especially busy with traffic to and from the Outer Banks beach areas of northeastern North Carolina. The seasonally adjusted approach to toll setting draws on an interesting traffic and revenue study for the city by Steer Davies Gleave (SDG).

New York's MTA Bridges and Tunnels (MTAB&T) plans toll rate increases at year's end designed to increase revenues 7.5 percent from its seven toll bridges and two toll tunnels. E-ZPass transponder toll rates are to go up 5% while cash rates will rise cash tolls go up 18.2% at most crossings - by $1.00 at the majors and 50c at the minors.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission has approved toll rates for 2011 that align them with many others in providing a discount for transponder tolls as compared to cash payments. Tolls paid via an E-ZPass transponder account will rise 3% while cash tolls go up 10% January 2, 2011. Collecting a cash toll costs substantially more than a transponder toll (typically 30c or so v 10c).

Typical tolls on the Dulles Toll Road in northern Virginia rose from $1.25 to $1.75 or 40%  this morning (Friday Jan 1). This is the first of three annual toll increases aimed to raise tolls 80% by 2012 that were formally adopted by the toll operator - Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) - last year.