Miami-Dade motorists paid millions in tolls during 2015/16
The recently released Miami-Dade Expressway (MDX) 2016 Comprehensive Annual Report indicates the agency that controls tolls and maintains county expressways made a significant increase in toll revenue over 2015.
The MDX realized revenue of $235 million from tolls over the period June 2015/July 2016 from four county highways – The Don Shula Expressway (Highway 836), The Dolphin Expressway, Gratigny (Highway 924), Airport Expressway (Highway 812), and Snapper Creek Expressway (Highway 878). The 2015/16 toll revenue was 28 percent higher than the previous year.
Over the past year during which the MDX increased tolls on all the exits of the Dolphin and Airport expressways, and placed more overhead electronic toll places on the Dolphin Expressway, motorists have complained about high tolls. Percival Lindo who lives in Dadeland and travels the Dolphin and Don Shula expressways daily to and from his job at Miami International Airport says he spends an average of $100 per month on Sunpass, the automated decal motorist affix to their windshields from which tolls are deducted.
According to reports, tolls on the five heavily traveled Miami-Dade highways increased by 82 percent since 2014.
Since 2015, the MDX has attempted to appease motorist criticisms of increase in toll fees by implementing a rebate program. Under this program motorists who uses the highways frequently and register with MDX’s Cash Back Program are eligible to receive a cash rebate on tolls paid through the Sunpass program.
In a recent press release, the MDX indicated over 54,000 drivers registered for this year’s MDX Cash Back Program. The agency is in the process of distributing a 30 percent refund of tolls paid on the five MDX expressways to motorists. These refunds total $5.5 million, averaging approximately $100 per motorist.
The primary purpose of toll revenue collected by MDX is funding the costs of maintaining and expanding county highways. The agency’s executive director, Javier Rodriquez, says the revenue funds expensive projects including expressway inter-exchange modifications and flyovers. “Through toll revenue citizens of Miami-Dade are relieved of tax burdens to meet these expenses.”
The 2016 MDX report revealed motorists using the five highways paid an average of $628,000 in tolls daily in 2016, up from $346,000 daily in 2014. Most of the 2015/16 toll revenue, $139 million, was collected on the Dolphin Expressway, followed by $38 million collected on the Don Shula Expressway.
