Toll Rates for I-78, Route 202 May Rise With Construction Costs

The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC) announced on Monday, July 28, a proposed system-wide toll adjustment for 2026 that would affect major toll bridges in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including those on I-78 and Route 202.

Under the Commission's proposed rate adjustments, the E-ZPass rate for Class 1 passenger vehicles (two axles and below 8 feet high) would increase by 50 cents to a $2 toll, according to a Commission press release shared with WFMZ-TV 69 News. The TOLL BY PLATE rate for the same vehicle without E-ZPass would increase by $2 to a $5 toll.

Officials say that the per-axle E-ZPass rate for vehicles 8 feet or higher would increase by $2 to a $6.50-per-axle toll rate. The TOLL BY PLATE rate for similar vehicles would jump by $3 to an $8-per-axle toll rate.

DRJTBC officials said that the toll adjustments are in response to rising construction-industry costs and would allow the Commission to "maintain strong credit ratings and finance new transportation-infrastructure improvements," according to WFMZ-TV.

“In the past five years, hot-mix asphalt has risen 28%, concrete has risen 46%, structural steel has risen 66%, and fuel has risen 44%,” said DRJTBC Executive Director Joseph J. Resta in the press release. “We still have supply chain issues delaying projects and increasing project costs despite the end of the pandemic.”

If the proposed toll schedule rate adjustments was 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 along the Delaware River.

Under the Commission's toll-setting policies, a public comment period with three virtual hearings must be held whenever toll schedule changes are calculated and proposed. The Commission policy also requires comments to be received online through the Commission website, via U.S. Mail, and through a recorded phone line.

The Commission's eight toll bridges, from north to south, are: