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Higher bridge tolls, PATCO fares approved

The long-expected $1 increase in Delaware River bridge tolls is set for Sept. 14, following approval yesterday by the port authority board.

The long-expected $1 increase in Delaware River bridge tolls is set for Sept. 14, following approval yesterday by the port authority board.

Tolls will go from $3 to $4, and PATCO train fares will rise 10 percent. Only an unanticipated veto by Gov. Corzine could block the hikes.

Additional fare increases are set for 2010, with bridge tolls to go to $5 and PATCO fares to rise another 10 percent. Beginning in January 2013, increases tied to inflation are to be imposed on fares and tolls every two years.

The raises are necessary, said officials of the deeply indebted Delaware River Port Authority, to pay for about $1 billion over the next five years in repairs and improvements to its four bridges and its fleet of PATCO railcars.

The board's New Jersey and Pennsylvania members voted unanimously for the increases despite months of intense public opposition.

Corzine can veto the toll increases within 10 business days, although a veto is considered unlikely. Corzine "will carefully review the minutes" of the board meeting "once we receive them," spokesman Robert Corrales said. Gov. Rendell, the agency's chairman, does not have the authority to veto board actions.

New Jersey State Sen. Diane Allen (R., Burlington) yesterday urged Corzine to veto the toll hikes, and she said she would introduce a resolution to repeal the hikes when the Senate reconvenes this fall.

"The goal should not be to see how much money you can raise from stuggling families in South Jersey," Allen said. "The DRPA must learn to live within its means."

In addition to the general toll increases, the board voted yesterday to double the discounted toll for senior citizens to $2 ($1.75 with E-ZPass). And it will phase out the commuter discount: The $18 credit for 18 crossings a month on the same bridge will fall to $12 on Sept. 14 and to $6 in September 2009, then end in September 2010.

The only concession the agency made to public reaction was to abandon proposed restrictions on the use of senior-citizen discounts.

Much of the public anger has been directed at the use of toll money in the last decade to fund $375 million in economic-development projects, such as the Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard, Lincoln Financial Field, the Kimmel Center, the National Constitution Center, the Camden Riversharks' minor-league baseball stadium, the National Museum of American Jewish History on Independence Mall, and, most recently, a soccer stadium complex on the Chester waterfront.

That spending helped push the port authority $1.2 billion into debt. It now spends $100 million a year, or about 42 percent of its operating budget, to pay principal and interest on that debt.

About $35 million remains earmarked for economic development, but authority officials said yesterday that they would not use money from the toll hikes for new development projects.

The board declined to put the $35 million toward debt reduction or to reduce toll hikes, as some commuters requested.

Acting board chairman John Estey said yesterday that the agency needed the money to give it flexibility in paying for projects already under way.

Board members defended the toll hikes as necessary to keep the four bridges "safe, secure and serviceable."

"Nobody wants to raise tolls and fares," said vice chairman Jeff Nash, a Camden County freeholder. "But there needs to be money available to be sure the bridges are in safe condition."

Jack Wagner, the Pennsylvania auditor general and one of eight Pennsylvania members of the board, said during a rare appearance yesterday, "It's never popular to vote on a toll increase, but it is my conclusion that it is the appropriate thing to do."

"It is our responsibility to make sure these bridges are operational and safe. . . . The public can be assured that 100 percent of the money will go into these structures."

Among the biggest expenses ahead: redecking the Walt Whitman Bridge ($120 million), finishing repainting the Ben Franklin Bridge ($22 million), and improving vessel-collision protections on the bridges ($23 million).

Only about $380 million of the $1 billion five-year spending plan is specifically for bridge improvements. The budget also includes $57 million for a long-delayed tram across the Delaware River.

Another expense is $335 million for PATCO improvements, including $180 million for rebuilding commuter railcars, most of which date to 1969, and $64 million for rebuilding tracks on the Ben Franklin and replacing electric power poles and lines.

Commuters and senior citizens were not mollified yesterday.

"The DRPA is a public authority, run on public money, and should give credence to public input," said Ela Voluck, a representative of the AAA-Midatlantic motorists' club. She said that AAA accepted the need for a $1 increase, but that "the public must be involved and not ignored before any future increases are implemented."

Art Basciano, 66, who drives every day from his home in Drexel Hill to work for the Camden Diocese, criticized the requirement that senior citizens get an E-ZPass transponder within two years to continue to qualify for a discount.

"Older people don't like anything changed. . . . We don't like the modern stuff," he said. "There are problems with E-ZPass. Why would they insist on us using that?"

Seniors can continue to buy $1 discount coupons until the end of 2008, and can use them to pay tolls until September 2010. At that time, an E-ZPass transponder will be required to get the senior discount.

The port authority sells about 200,000 senior-discount tickets per month.

The agency owns and operates the Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross Bridges; PATCO; the Philadelphia Cruise Terminal; and the RiverLink ferry.

The last toll increase on the bridges was in 2000, when a round trip went from $2 to $3. The original round-trip cost on the Ben Franklin Bridge, which opened in 1926, was 50 cents. Through inflation, that would be about $6.12 today.

The last PATCO fare increase was in 2001, when the maximum round-trip fare went to $4.90 from $4.20. The maximum when the 14-mile line opened in 1969 was $1.20, equivalent to $7.08 today.

More Information

More details about the toll hikes and senior-citizen discounts on the Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman, Betsy Ross and Commodore Barry Bridges are available by calling 856-968-3347 or the customer-service center at 856-968-2255 (from Pennsylvania, 215-218-3750, Ext. 2255 or 3347). Information is also available on the Web at

» READ MORE: www.drpa.org

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