The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC) today announced that it will hold three online hearings on the proposed system-wide toll adjustments for 2026 that were announced in late July.
The toll rate changes would enable the Commission to offset rising construction-industry costs, maintain strong credit ratings, and finance new transportation-infrastructure improvements.
The proposed toll adjustments can be viewed on the Commission website at: https://www.drjtbc.org/proposednewtolls. A comment form can be accessed from that webpage. The Commission initiated a 30-day comment period on the proposed toll changes last week. The comment period is scheduled to end 4 p.m. October 17.
The Commission today voted to hold three remote hearings – also known as virtual hearings — as part of the public comment process. The hearing dates and times are as follows:
- October 7 – 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.
- October 7 – 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- October 9 – 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The hearings will be held through the Zoom online public platform and by teleconferencing. Pre-registration is required to speak at a remote hearing.
Zoom access links and teleconferencing numbers and codes for the online hearings will be posted on the Commission website and advertised on or about Sunday, Sept. 28. Individuals interested only in watching the livestream Zoom broadcast will need to provide, at a minimum, a name and e-mail address. Teleconferencing will be the only means for individuals to listen to the hearings without providing any identifying information.
Further instructions for registering online or by phone will be posted on the Commission website by Oct. 1. The registration period shall end 4 p.m. Oct. 6.
Online commenters will need to provide their first name and last name, municipality and state of residence, and an email address (for confirmation purposes). Individuals planning to speak by phone through a teleconference phone number must provide their first name and last name, municipality, and state of residence, and the last four digits of the phone number they will use to call into a selected hearing.
Individuals can provide comment for up to three minutes at one hearing. Registration is first-come, first-served until all available slots at each respective hearing are filled.
Other Comment Submission Methods
Under Commission policy, additional comment methods are available for the public:
- Online: Click on the button for the toll-comment form that has been posted at https://www.drjtbc.org/proposednewtolls.
- US Mail: address to Director of Community Affairs Jodee Inscho, DRJTBC Administration Building, 1199 Woodside Road, Yardley, PA. 19067 (Must be postmarked by Oct. 17 to be part of the official record.)
- E-mail – messages can be sent to tollcomments@drjtbc.org.
To be included in the official record, individuals must provide their first and last names, municipality of residence, and state of residence. E-mail addresses and phone numbers are requested for confirmation purposes, but will not be included in the official record that gets presented to Commissioners and later released to the public. Anonymous submissions will not be included in the official record and will be discarded.
All eligible comments will be presented to DRJTBC Commissioners prior to consideration and action (approve, modify-approve, or reject) on the proposed toll adjustments. Commissioners are expected to vote on the proposed toll adjustments at their monthly meeting scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Nov. 24. Members of the public would have one final opportunity to comment on the proposed toll rate changes during the portion of the meeting designated for comments on listed agenda items.
Proposed toll-rate changes
The proposed toll-rate changes would be uniformly applied to the Commission’s eight toll bridges: Trenton-Morrisville (Route 1), Scudder Falls (I-295), New Hope-Lambertville (Route 202), I-78, Easton-Phillipsburg (Route 22), Portland-Columbia (Routes 611, 46, and 94), Delaware Water Gap (I-80), and Milford-Montague (Route 206).
The proposed 2026 toll rate changes are:
- Raise the $1.50 E-ZPass toll for Class 1 passenger vehicles (two axles and less than 8 feet high) by 50 cents to a $2 rate;
- Raise the $3 TOLL BY PLATE toll for Class 1 passenger vehicles (two axles and less than 8 feet high) by $2 to a $5 rate;
- Maintain the current $2 surcharge for Class 1 vehicles with a bumper-hitch trailer or vehicle in tow, resulting in a respective $4 E-ZPass toll or a respective $7 TOLL BY PLATE toll.
- Raise the $4.50 per-axle E-ZPass rate for Class 2 vehicles and above (trucks, buses, and other non-Class 1 vehicles and combinations with two or more axles and 8 feet and above in height) by $2 to a $6.50 rate.
- Raise the $5 per-axle TOLL BY PLATE rate for Class 2 vehicles and above (trucks, buses, and other non-Class 1 vehicles and combinations with two or more axles and 8 feet and above in height) by $3 to an $8 rate. The new non-Class 1 tolls would be:
- Class 2 — 2 axles — $13 E-ZPass; $16 TOLL BY PLATE
- Class 3 — 3 axles — $19.50 E-ZPass; $24 TOLL BY PLATE
- Class 4 — 4 axles — $26 E-ZPass; $32 TOLL BY PLATE
- Class 5 — 5 axles — $32.50 E-ZPass; $40 TOLL BY PLATE
- Class 6 — 6 axles — $39 E-ZPass; $48 TOLL BY PLATE
- Class 7 — 7 axles — $45.50 E-ZPass; $56 TOLL BY PLATE
All Commission tolling points now operate with cashless all-electronic toll collections systems involving E-ZPass and TOLL BY PLATE (license plate billing). Tolls are collected only in the Pennsylvania-bound direction.
The Commission charges higher rates to TOLL BY PLATE customers because that payment method involves higher costs for identifying vehicle owners and mailing billings. E-ZPass is the most frequently used toll payment method at Commission tolling points.
If the proposed toll adjustments were to be approved, the Commission’s toll rates for passenger vehicles would still remain lower than – or at least competitive with – the rates of other public toll agencies in the region.
The proposed toll changes are being considered in the wake of recent financial-metric-projections that show the Commission risks falling short in two key areas – General Fund Reserve Balance and Debt Service Coverage Ratio – in future years. Bond-rating firms regularly use these indices to determine the stability and credit worthiness of public agencies. Unlike some other toll agencies, the DRJTBC does not automatically increase tolls based on index-based criteria or other economic formulas.
The Commission is funded strictly by the tolls it collects at its eight toll bridges. It does not receive state or federal subsidies to run its transportation system and services. The Commission is unique among other toll agencies in the region because it is legally obligated – under identical statutes enacted by both states and ratified by Congress under the Compact Clause of the U.S. Constitution – to use a share of its tolls to operate and maintain 10 older lowe-capacity non-highway vehicular bridges and two other pedestrian-only crossings along the river. The Commission refers to these 12 spans as “toll-supported bridges.” Many of these bridges substructures date to the early 19th century and many of their superstructures date to late 19th and early 20th centuries.
