Turkey: Road, bridge tolls reap $320.4M in 2016

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey earned 1.2 billion Turkish liras ($320.43 million) in tolls from two bridges on the Istanbul Strait as well as toll roads in 2016, according to data released Tuesday by the Turkish Highways Directorate.

The July 15 Martyrs' Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, both spanning the Bosphorus and connecting Europe and Asia, together yielded around 290.5 million liras ($77.3 million), while toll highways throughout Turkey earned almost 914 million liras ($243.1 million) last year, according to the data.

The figures indicate that over 417 million vehicles paid tolls to use the facilities in the same period. Drivers in Turkey used to pay 4.75 liras ($1.56) for the bridge tolls, with higher fees for vehicles with more than two axles. However, the bridge tolls increased to 7 liras ($1.86) as of Jan. 1.

Last December, 31 million vehicles used Turkey’s toll bridges and toll roads, paying a total of nearly 90.6 million liras ($24.1 million).

In 2015, 412.4 million vehicles used Turkey’s toll bridges and roads, paying a total of 880.2 million liras ($290.4 million). The bridge toll at that time was 4.25 liras ($1.04) per passage.