MDTA to consider highway toll fare increase

Julia Eisen – WMAL News | September 19, 2023

Marylanders have been sitting comfortably with highway toll fares but the Maryland Transportation Authority is now considering a request to increase tolls.

During the last budget meeting, Joseph Sagal, the Executive Director of MDTA, said the diminished revenue during the pandemic has taken its own toll.

Sagal explained that between the loss of revenue and “operating costs being so high” fare increases should be considered.

The last time highway tolls were upped was during former Governor Martin O’Malley’s administration in 2011.

Former Governor Larry Hogan ran with a promise to decrease highway fares, which he did in 2016 and again in 2019.

Now, those cost cutting measures are catching up to MDTA.

All money received from Maryland highways goes right back to fixing any issues.

“The MDTA invests those toll dollars right back into the system preservation to ensure our assets are in a state of good repair,” Sagal said in the Transportation Revenue and Infrastructure Needs Commission in Annapolis.

Sagal was vague during the meeting and did not offer any details on when this increase will come and how much the new fare will cost.

WMAL News Correspondent Barbara Britt contributed to this report.

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