Turkey earns some $32 mln in public bridge, highway tolls in January

ANKARA

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Turkey earned over 189.5 million liras (some $32 million) in tolls in January, official figures revealed on Feb. 25.

The July 15 Martyrs’ Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, connecting Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus, yielded over 39 million Turkish liras ($6.6 million) last month, according to the General Directorate of Highways.

The highway tolls throughout Turkey earned 150 million Turkish liras ($25.4 million) in January, the data showed.

The figures indicate that more than 35 million vehicles went through the toll booths during the same period.

Drivers in Turkey pay 10.50 Turkish liras ($1.8) for bridge tolls, with higher fees for vehicles with more than two axles.

Last year, nearly 343 million vehicles used bridges and roads in Turkey, paying a total of 1.4 billion liras (some $255 million).

Turkey’s mega-structures including the newly built Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge spanning over the Bosphorus, the Avrasya (Eurasia) Tunnel under the Marmara Sea and the Osmangazi Bridge connecting the two sides of the İzmit Bay are being operated by private contractors.