Maine Turnpike Tolls Go Up, Discounts Go Down Monday

The official name of the toll increase and decrease in discounts on the Maine Turnpike is a "toll adjustment."

Whatever you call it drivers will be paying more to ride the 300 mile road for the first time in nine years starting Monday when the increase takes effect. E-Z Pass users will also receive less of a discount for heavy use of the Turnpike.

The change will bring in $18 million in additional annual revenue to go towards projects stretching into the mid-21st century designed to increase capacity on the Turnpike.

The "adjustments" include:

• Raising the cash toll at the York Toll Plaza from $3 to $4. 87% of this increase will be paid by out-of-stare travelers
• Increase the current Maine E-ZPass rate per mile from 7.7 cents to 8.0 cents.
• Decreasing the Class 1 Personal Volume Discount thresholds from a 25% discount to a 20% discount for Maine E-ZPass users making 30 or more trips per month and from a 50% discount to a 40% discount for Maine E-ZPass users making 40 or more trips per month.
• Image tolls (I-tolls) will no longer count towards the Class 1 Personal Volume discount. I-tolls are created when an E-ZPass transponder is not present or read in a valid Maine E-ZPass account.

The Turnpike Authority said that it lost $60 million in toll revenue because of the pandemic and needs to make up the loss in order to continue work projects. $106 million in reserve funds were used to keep projects going.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH