Plan to increase 4 Delaware River bridge tolls officially approved after vote

Driving across four major bridges in the Philadelphia area will soon cost you more.

The plan for a new toll hike became official with a vote Wednesday morning. It will impact drivers who use the Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross bridges.

Crossing the Delaware River Bridges will cost a dollar more come September 1 after the Delaware River Port Authority approved a toll increase from $5 to $6.

The increase was proposed for up to an additional $1.50, but employees indicated that the additional 50-cent uptick was unnecessary.

"We certainly don't want to charge people more than is necessary to go over the bridge and commute," says DRPA Chairman James Schultz.

"That's a lot," said Khadijah Parked, of West Philadelphia. "It already was high and I feel like it's really going to take a toll on everybody."

For a commuter traveling five days a week, like Khadijah Parker, this increase means up to $260 more a year spent on the commute.

The DRPA says these funds will go towards bridge maintenance, operational costs, plus hiring and retaining additional police officers.

The Port Authority has 120 officers, with 30 officer vacancies.

They say the inflation pinch felt by commuters is also felt by the agency.

"This is old and aging infrastructure," said James Schultz, chairman of DRPA. "It needs to be repaired. It needs to be maintained. We have a huge project coming to the Commodore Barry Bridge. We need to re-deck that. A number of big projects on the other bridges -- we have a $53 million project on a study to make sure that we don't end up like another Baltimore incident. And we want to sure up those bridges as well."

The increase has been deferred nine times.

The last increase was 13 years ago.