Jacobs "Encouraged" By MdTA Response to Tolls

Sen. Nancy Jacobs sounds upbeat about her fight against toll increases on the bridges crossing the Susquehanna River.

Jacobs, who has been an outspoken opponent to the Maryland Transportation Authority's proposed toll increases on the Hatem and Tydings bridges, posted the following on a Facebook page she created to fight the changes:

I just met with MdTA top brass...I am encouraged by their response that they are sympathetic to the plight of people in Cecil and Harford Co. the Secretary says she even drove on the three Susquehanna bridges yesterday to see firsthand. They won't say what the board will decide but offered encouraging words.

Jacobs is listed as the page's owner. The page had more than 1,500 fans as of noon Thursday.

Jacobs—who represents southern Harford and parts of western Cecil County—has called the proposed toll increases "highway robbery."

For a list of links to Patch's coverage of the tolls saga, see below.

Jacobs told baltimoresun.com she thinks the board members of the MdTA "now fully understand" the importance of the AVI decal to Harford and Cecil county citizens.

"The [state transportation] secretary [Beverley Swaim-Staley] yesterday drove up into Harford and Cecil County. She went up and drove over the Conowingo Dam and over to [Interstate]-95 to see exactly what everybody was telling her, how difficult it is," Jacobs said in The Sun report.

The main issues for locals are a change in the toll rate as well as discontinuing the AVI decal option, which has a $10 annual fee. Instead of continuing with the bar code decals, the state transportation authority board wants to use the E-ZPass system.

According to state Sen. Nancy Jacobs' new website, HatemTolls.com, the proposal would increase the Hatem Bridge single-use toll from $5 to $6 in October, and to $8 in 2013. The cost to participate in the new annual E-ZPass program for the Hatem Bridge would be $36 (increasing to $72 in 2013). New E-ZPass users would incur additional costs: $21 for a transponder, a required $25 E-ZPass account deposit and $18 in annual maintenance fees (billed at $1.50 a month).

The Hatem Bridge is not the only toll facility impacted by the transportation authority board's proposal.

Tolls for passenger cars on the Bay Bridge would increase from $2.50 to $5 beginning Oct. 1 and increase to $8 on July 1, 2013.

In addition, the cost for a one-way toll on the Fort McHenry Tunnel, the Harbor Tunnel and the Key Bridge would jump from $2 to $3 on Oct. 1 and to $4 on July 1, 2013.

Other toll increases set for Oct. 1 include the John F. Kennedy Highway, from $5 to $6, and the Harry W. Nice Bridge in Southern Maryland, from $3 to $5. Those tolls would increase to $8 on July 1, 2013.

Finally, there will also be increases for E-ZPass users and commuters along with a video toll rate for vehicles traveling through a toll plaza without a valid E-ZPass or making cash payment. The video rate would replace the existing $3 notice-of-toll-due fee and would be 25 percent higher than the proposed cash rates.

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To read more coverage of the proposed changes to the toll rate and the discontinuation of the AVI decal program, check out the following links: