The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission will hold its first of six public hearings on the proposed toll schedule for the Scudder Falls replacement bridge (I-95) on Tuesday evening in Ewing.
If approved in late September, tolls at the new bridge would be $1.25 for passenger vehicles with E-ZPass; $2.60 for toll-by-plate passenger vehicles without E-ZPass; and 75 cents for commuters who make at least 16 tolled trips per month using a commission-affiliated E-ZPass tag.
The proposed rate schedule, which also includes tolls on trucks and other non-passenger vehicles, is projected to take effect when the first span of the new bridge opens to traffic sometime in 2019. The tolls will be charged in the southbound direction only via an all-electronic toll collection system of E-ZPass tag readers and high-resolution cameras. Cash won’t be accepted; drivers without EZ Pass would have a photo taken of the their license plate and a bill sent in the mail.
The toll hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 19, at the West Trenton Volunteer Fire House, 40 Upper Ferry Road, West Trenton.
An informational open house on the Scudder Falls bridge replacement project, the proposed toll schedule, and the planned all-electronic toll collection system will immediately precede the hearing, beginning at 4:30 p.m. and ending promptly at 6.
At the toll hearing, the commission also will take testimony on two narrowly defined changes in its current toll structure for the agency’s seven existing toll bridges.
One of these adjustments would affect E-ZPass and cash tolls paid by drivers of two-axle vehicles that are less than eight feet high with more than four wheels; the preponderance of these vehicles would be pickup trucks with dual-wheel rear axles, often referred to as “dualies.”
The other proposed change clarifies what the cash toll rate should be for recreational vehicles with a trailer or vehicle in tow. All other rates and vehicle classifications in the commission’s current toll schedule are unaffected by the proposed toll adjustments.
The two changes in the current toll structure are expected to take effect by February 2017, after the commission completes the installation, testing, calibration and activation of a next-generation collections system for manual and electronic toll transactions at the seven current toll bridges.
The proposed toll adjustments and the public notice for the public comment process are posted on the commission’s website, www.drjtbc.org.
The proposed toll schedule for the replacement bridge may be accessed directly at www.drjtbc.org/scuddertolls.
The proposed adjustments for recreational vehicles with cars or trailers in tow and for two-axle vehicles less than eight-feet high with more than four wheels may be accessed at www.drjtbc.org/2016adjustments.
