Photo: Contributed - Wikimedia Commons

Drivers will soon pay more to cross the Port Mann Bridge.

Starting Aug. 15, passenger vehicles (pickups, SUVs and cars) will pay an additional 15 cents per bridge crossing, or $3.15.

For Lower Mainland commuters who cross the river twice each day, that amounts to an increase of $109.50 a year.

The cost for commercial trucks and motorhomes increases from $9 to $9.45.

The Crown corporation that manages the bridge says the increase is required to keep up with costs associated with operating and maintaining the project, and to repay the span's construction debt. 

The money-losing toll bridge is an $80-million black hole for the province each year.

“TReO's toll rates need to increase from time to time to keep up with the cost of building, operating and maintaining the bridge and Highway 1 improvements,” a statement from TReO parent company TI Corp. reads.

The company insists the increases are not intended to create a profit.

– with files from CTV Vancouver