Ohio River Bridges Project reducing tolling impact for some

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Kentucky and Indiana will exempt local mass-transit buses from electronic tolling on new Ohio River bridges and distribute free transponders for low-income and minority residents.

Low-income residents of the greater Louisville metropolitan area won’t be exempt from paying the tolls, which will be $1 each way for frequent commuters. But signs will go up showing them how to reach toll-free bridges to cross the river.

WDRB-TV and the News and Tribune report the two states agreed Thursday on the plan that’s intended to reduce the impact of the bridge tolling on minority and low-income communities.

Officials will distribute free electronic transponders at retailers in low-income and minority neighborhoods in southern Indiana and Louisville.

That plan will allow low-income residents to create transponder tolling accounts with balances as low as $20.

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