Toll increases could be coming for some drivers on the Delaware Memorial Bridge.
The proposed increase will only affect drivers who don’t use E-ZPass to pay their tolls. For those drivers, the cost of crossing the bridge could jump from $5.00 to $6.00 if Delaware River and Bay Authority officials move forward with the plan.
“So if you have E-ZPass right now, you will not be affected at all, and those current rates will stay in place on the E-ZPass side until at least January 1st of 2027," said DRBA Executive Director Thomas Cook.
The proposed toll hike is in part an effort to get more drivers to move away from paying cash for tolls and toward using EZPass. Cook says neighboring New Jersey is moving towards cashless tolling across the state, and Delaware should do the same, or risk losing money.
“If you do not turn around and convert at the end of the Turnpike to cashless tolling, we could be losing a lot of money," he said. "So the way to do that is to try to incentivize people to go to an E-ZPass.”
DRBA will hold two public hearings in the coming days. The first is in Delaware at the Vincent A. Julia Center near the bridge’s toll plaza, on Tuesday, October 8 at 6:30. A second public meeting will be on Thursday, October 10 at 6:30 at Salem Community College in Carney’s Point Township.
