New Jersey

Toll Hike on AC Expressway in 2022; DRPA Bridges to Cost the Same

The drive home from the Jersey Shore will cost more on the Atlantic City Expressway in 2022. However, the Walt Whitman or Ben Franklin bridge trip back to Pennsylvania will cost the same

Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

New Jersey Turnpike toll booth signs

What to Know

  • The South Jersey Transportation Authority plans to hike tolls on the Atlantic City Expressway by 3% in 2022.
  • The Delaware River Port Authority won't be hiking tolls on its bridges connecting New Jersey and Pennsylvania in 2022.
  • The DRPA's commissioners on Wednesday voted to postpone a scheduled toll increase for the Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry, and Betsy Ross Bridges until at least 2023.

Drivers are going to be forking over more money for the ride to and from the Jersey Shore in 2022, but it won't be from the cost of crossing the Delaware River Port Authority's bridges between New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The South Jersey Transportation Authority plans to hike Atlantic City Expressway tolls by around 3% on Jan. 1, 2022, a spokesperson told NBC10.

The increase -- included in the agency's 2022 budget -- would hike tolls on the road that connects the Philadelphia suburbs in South Jersey to Atlantic City and other Jersey Shore points by a few pennies for the cheapest tolls for cars to around 60 cents for the most expensive trucks when comparing the new toll schedule with the current posted rates.

Tolls hikes won't happen on the ride over the Delaware River for folks heading from shore points on the major bridges.

The DRPA's commissioners on Wednesday voted to postpone a scheduled toll increase for the Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross bridges until at least 2023. It marked the eleventh year the agency has held the line on tolls for the Delaware River spans, the DRPA said in a news release.

The current toll schedule, implemented in July 2011, included automatic biennial toll increases based upon increases in the Consumer Price Index for the Philadelphia region, the DRPA said.

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in the region increased 1% from August to October, the fifth consecutive 2-month increase, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last month.

The region's CPI rose 5.6% over the last 12 months, the largest over-the year increase since February 1991. the bureau said.

The DRPA board also approved a 2022 operating budget of $306.8 million, up 0.53% from 2021. It expects to collect about $356.1 million in revenue generated primarily from bridge tolls based upon expectations that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to impact travel between the two states.

Copyright The Associated Press
Exit mobile version