Tolls will be going up on bridges between Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the new year, including three that connect the Lehigh Valley.
The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission approved new rates Monday that will go into effect Jan. 1.
The E-ZPass toll rate for Class 1 passenger vehicles — including motorcycles, cars, pickup trucks, vans and SUVs that are less than 8 feet high and have up to two axles — will rise 50 cents to $2. The toll-by-plate rate for the same vehicle without E-ZPass will increase $2 to $5.
The per-axle E-ZPass rate for vehicles 8 feet or above in height (classes 2 to 7) rises $2 to a $6.50-per-axle toll rate. The corresponding toll-by-plate rate for similar vehicles rises $3 to an $8-per-axle toll rate.
Bridges under the joint toll bridge commission’s jurisdiction include the Route 22 and Interstate 78 links between Easton and Phillipsburg, New Jersey; the Portland-Columbia, New Jersey, bridge; Interstate 80 at Delaware Water Gap; Route 202 between New Hope and Lambertville, New Jersey; Interstate 295 at Scudder Falls; Route 1 between Trenton and and Morrisville; and Route 206 at Milford, Pike County.
E-ZPass is used in nearly 87% of personal-vehicle transactions.
The additional money from the increases will finance infrastructure projects and improvements, offset rising construction costs and maintain favorable borrowing rates in the municipal bond market, the commission said.
