Bridge, highway tolls rake in $162 million in Turkey

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

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Some 570.1 million Turkish Liras (some $162 million) was earned in tolls collected from two bridges over Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait and toll roads across Turkey in the first five months of 2017, the Highways Directorate stated on June 28.      

The July 15 Martyrs’ Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, both spanning the Bosphorus and connecting Europe and Asia, together yielded 149.2 million liras ($44.2 million), while toll highways throughout Turkey raked in around 421 million liras ($119.2 million) from January to May, according to the data.    
 
The figure showed that almost 160 million vehicles went through toll booths in Turkey in the same period.
     
In May, over 37 million vehicles used Turkey’s bridges and highways, paying a total of 131.3 million liras ($37.2 million).      

Drivers in Turkey pay 7 liras ($1.98) for bridge tolls, with higher fees for vehicles with more than two axles.      
Last year, 417 million vehicles used the country’s toll bridges and roads, paying a total of 1.2 billion liras ($320.43 million). The bridge toll at that time was 4.75 liras ($1.56) per passage.