Transportation authority approves toll increase on turnpikes

"Fifteen percent in six years is not too bad, we don't think,"

said Holly Lowe, deputy director of the Oklahoma Transportation Authority.

The Transportation Authority only wants to raise rates on an "as needed" basis, Lowe said. The fees are being increased to pay for extensions to the Kilpatrick Turnpike in Oklahoma City, the Creek Turnpike in Tulsa and the H.E. Bailey spur, she said.

When the bonds were approved two years ago to finance the expansion of those turnpikes, transportation officials estimated a 15 percent increase would be needed.

"That's exactly what this is," Lowe said. "We are just doing what we said back then we would have to do."

Beginning Jan. 1, fees will increase by 15 percent overall, more on some routes and less on others.

Drivers of automobiles traveling the length of any turnpike will see a rate increase from 11 percent to 17 percent, Lowe said. Cash customers traveling from Oklahoma City to Tulsa on the Turner Turnpike, for instance, will pay $3.50 instead of $3.

Drivers of tractor-trailers will see increases ranging from 25 percent to 30 percent, Lowe said. Truck drivers paying $11 to travel the Turner Turnpike from Oklahoma City to Tulsa will pay $14.25 beginning in January. On the H.E. Bailey Turnpike, a $10 toll cost to travel from Wichita Falls, Texas, to Oklahoma City will increase to $12.50 for truck drivers.

Truck drivers are getting a larger toll fee increase because their vehicles do the most damage to turnpikes, Lowe said.

"We just feel like they ought to pay their share," she said.

The Transportation Authority also is making changes to its Pikepass discount plan. The normal 10 percent discount will be reduced to 5 percent. A new Pikepass volume discount package, which rewards frequent travelers, will allow drivers with 20 or more monthly transactions to receive an additional 5 percent off tolls.

Part of the rate increase also will be used to maintain and operate the turnpikes, officials said.