$8 in 2013 are they crazy? Why the exponential increase? With the amount of additional traffic every year over the bridge why not raise it to $3 and then $4?

So, what about people who live on one side of the bridge and work on the other? I certainly was in this situation and while I know they offer discounts what kind of a discount are they going to offer for $8?

Also, my family lives across the bridge - are you trying to say that I have to pay every time I would like to see them??

This is absurd - find other ways to make money.

$2.50 is way too cheap for a 3 mile suspension bridge. NYC bridge tolls of comparable bridges are around anywhere from $8 to $12. This increase is long overdue, but the Authority should provide discounts for using E-ZPass like most authorities do.

Living on the eastern shore, I already take steps to avoid having to cross that bridge.

Just another reason, there is no life, west of the Chesapeake.

But, the illegals still get their tuition break right? Tell me that they still get all the free stuff.
As long as the free loaders keep living free and illegal Im just as happy as can be to get bent over for every last cent I EARN to cover their costs.

Maryland, home of the tax-snd-spend liberal.

These guys are out of their mind if they think this will not have a devastating impact on tourism dollars to the shore.

But they MUST raise the tolls - how else will they build up the transportation fund so it can be raided to balance the general budget????

I predict they will "listed to public opinion" and then bring it down to $4 this summer and $6 in 2013. After these proposed rates, it will seem like a bargain.

$5 seems reasonable to me considering you're crossing a major body of water. And yes, as one poster mentions, it's considerably cheaper than the bridge tolls in NYC. However, $8 is a bit pricey. The MdTA ought to enact seasonal pricing- raise the Bay Brdige toll on the weekends between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and then reduce the toll at all other times of the year. Outside of trips to OC and commuters, I doubt the bridge gets that much use, so striking while the iron is hot would probably yield the same amount of profit while keeping the commuters happy. Just a thought.

I used to work over there on the other side and if I still were, this combined with the increase in gas prices, I'd be better off quitting my job and filing for unemployment... But isn't that what those grave-robbing democrats want - to take every last cent we earn and make us completely, utterly and hopelessly dependent upon them? What a bunch of cowardly, self-righteous blowhards who never learned that you can't spend more than you make... Let those bridges rot and fall into the Bay and take the whole western shore with it - then I'll be even less likely to see that smarmy Marty Mallarky slumming over here with the country folk, trolling for support...

When will it end??? It seems like not even one week goes by without an increase in our taxes, fees, and tolls. We have had a sales tax increase, a liquer tax increase, and now they are talking about a gas tax increase. People are struggling to make ends meet, and our officials keep making that harder to do. They look at the citizens as nothing more than a revenue source. When is the last time the legislators took a pay cut to help the budget? The obvious answer is NEVER. They live off of our hard work, and then make us work harder just to get by. PLEASE stop voting for these same legislators. Lets clean out Annapolis next election.

Why the comparison to NY???MD is NOT NY!!! Ridiculous increase! I can see $3, but not this. I'm in agreement with acharleyhorse, let's see the legislators take a pay cut, a big one, and their perks too!

its absolutely ludicrous to compare the Bay Bridge to bridges in NYC and San Francisco. There is not comparison. The labor for maintenance and repairs is sharply lower on the Eastern Shore than the rates paid in NYC.

Now... if they just wouldn't have wasted $1billion on 95 in White Marsh (which has not and will not improve traffic), and would charge a toll to get on 495 and 270 around DC, maybe we wouldn't have to have such a big increase. Why are the Washington commuters spared?

Surely the poor illegals can't afford this hike. How long before Marexican Governor O'Malley gives free EZ Passes to CASA de Maryland to hand out? Meanwhile, my family and I and every other LEGAL taxpaying citizen will work to pay for the constant increases in everything.

As a Mexican-American I'm shocked at all the racism going on up here.

It's not just Mexicans that live and work up here you know, there's all sorts of cultures which by the way if you know your history, America is supposed to be the land of Opportunity. Yet it took my grandmother to get her citizenship 35yrs later.

You know why the Americans hire us? Because we actually like to work. =) Oh and cheap labor which isn't fair yet we also work our butts off to get the same opportunities you all get to have yet take advantage of.

Americans leech off the government too you know. Not just all the different cultures around us.

While the prices do seem a bit steep, be lucky you're not in other parts of the country where you pay up to 13 dollars a gallon for gas.

we the maryland residents have allready paid for the bridge we should just be charged for upkeep
the state has allready said it is a cash cow there allready making a ton of money this is not fair to the folks who live on the shore but have to work on the other side cause there are no jobs on the shore