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Mackinac Bridge Fare To Rise 50˘ for Cars, 10˘ for
Commuters;MotorHomes Up $1.50 Mackinac Bridge tolls will increaseMarch 1 from $2.50 to $3 for a passenger car and from $1.50 to $1.60 for commuters under a fare increase adopted by the Mackinac BridgeAuthority Friday, December 21, in Detroit. The seven-year plan will jump tolls in one-year increments to 2014, during which time automobile tolls will be raised 50˘ every two years to $4.50 in 2014 and commuter tolls will climb 10˘ every year to $2.20. Truck tolls will rise from $3 per axle now to $3.50 March 1, then be increased every two years to $6 in 2014. Motor Homes will take the largest initial hit, jumping from $2 per axle now to $3.50 truck rate onMarch 1, then rising the same as trucks. An automobile with a trailer will rise 25˘ per axle, from $1.25 to $1.50, then 25˘ every two years to $2.25 in 2014. The plan is to be reviewed in 2013, before it expires the following year. The Bridge Authority is still reviewing its commuter policies and, for now, will continue with its debit card system, which can be scanned at both manned and unmanned toll booths. A commuter rate for trucks is also under consideration, but no action was taken Friday. Commuter cards, beginning December 27, will cost $5 (which is what it costs the Authority to issue them), and must be purchased with a minimum of $40 fare at the Authority office. The cards can be recharged for a minimum of $40, both at the office and at the toll booths. The Bridge Authority said it considers the commuter system an interim policy and is still collecting geographical information from card users. At this point, members said, there will be no frequency or geographical restrictions. All commuter cards issued before January 1, 2009, however, will expire January 1, 2010, as theAuthority anticipates a new policy to be in place by then. Authority member MurrayWikol of Bloomfield Hills called the new plan a "softening" of an original proposal, which could have raised tolls from $2.50 to $4 for passenger cars and added 50˘ to the commuter rate. Board members said they took citizen comments about the fare increase seriously and felt the new plan had the least amount of impact on the people using the bridge. Driving the toll hike is a $40 million painting project and a $190 million deck replacement which the Bridge Authority says it cannot finance any other way. The deck replacement is scheduled to begin in 2018, the painting is ongoing. The original toll hike was to take effect January 1 instead of the new March 1 implementation. The fare hike was adopted as The St. Ignace News was going to press Friday under an early holiday printing schedule. A more complete report on the Mackinac Bridge Authority meeting will appear in the January 3 edition. The original fare hike proposals can be found in the November 8 edition of The St. Ignace News, available in the free archives section at www.stignacenews.com. Mackinac Bridge Toll Increase Schedule Effective March 1, 2008 Adopted Friday, December 21, by the Mackinac Bridge Authority
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