Hearings into proposed bridge toll hike underway
Posted Nov 22, 2010 01:18:46 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A public hearing gets underway Monday into a proposed rate hike by the Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission. The proposal is to increase tolls to cross the harbour spans by 33 percent effective February 1, 2011.
If approved, the cash price would rise a quarter to a loonie and MacPass holders would be paying 20 cents more per crossing, up from the current 60 cents.
An exception to the increase would be Metro Transit buses and Access-a-Buses. The commission says that will hopefully encourage bridge-crossers to consider using more mass transit.
The extra revenue generated from the proposed toll hikes would go to off-set the costs of an estimated 137-million dollar re-decking of the MacDonald Bridge. Bridge Commission CEO Steve Snider says the money for the work is needed up front.
“With the project approved and the design commenced, basically, this project is underway, so we felt it was appropriate to come forward now, given that this project is underway,” he says.
If approved, this would be the first hike in bridge tolls since 1992.
