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Delaware River Port Authority approves toll hike for bridges

Starting Sept. 1, drivers using the Betsy Ross, Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman, and Commodore Barry Bridges will see tolls increase to $6.

The Ben Franklin Bridge and Delaware River is photographed from Cooper's Poynt Park in Camden, NJ on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022.
The Ben Franklin Bridge and Delaware River is photographed from Cooper's Poynt Park in Camden, NJ on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer

Tolls to cross the Delaware River Port Authority’s four bridges connecting New Jersey and Pennsylvania will soon increase for the first time in 13 years.

Starting Sept. 1, drivers using the Betsy Ross, Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman, and Commodore Barry Bridges will see tolls increase to $6, up from $5, as part of a new toll schedule unanimously approved by the authority’s board Wednesday. Fares on the PATCO commuter rail line will remain unchanged.

The increase marks a 20% hike in tolls, but falls below the initial $6.50 price the authority had been considering. A DRPA rule typically ties toll increases to a measure of inflation known as the Consumer Price Index, which itself originally called for a 30% increase.

That CPI-based increase has been deferred nine times since 2013, the authority said in a statement. The board, however, voted Wednesday to reduce its planned increase by 50 cents, resulting in a toll schedule that the authority says will allow it to “balance financial needs for long-term capital projects and operational stability while complying with bond covenants.”

The additional revenue generated under the increased toll, the DRPA said, will allow the authority to “complete several high-priority projects, with flexibility to adjust plans due to increased costs and inflation.” The authority said it also plans to use the additional money to recruit and retain police officers.

“DRPA must undertake vital safety and security upgrades and infrastructure improvements,” DRPA board chairman James D. Schultz said in a statement. “Whenever we make decisions regarding tolls, we must do them through the lens of fiscal responsibility, and most importantly, safety.”

Tolls on DRPA bridges last increased in 2011, when the authority raised the amount to $5. It had previously decided in 2008 that tolls needed to be adjusted every two years based on the CPI as a way to stabilize its finances and make more moderate, regular increases.

The authority’s four bridges carry roughly 136,000 vehicles daily, about 94% of their pre-pandemic level of use, The Inquirer has reported.