Turkey: Road, bridge tolls reap nearly $72M

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey received 271.7 million liras (nearly $72 million) in tolls in the first two months of 2018, the Turkish Highways Directorate revealed on Monday.

The July 15 Martyrs' Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, connecting Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus, yielded over 80.9 million Turkish liras ($21.4 million), while highway tolls throughout Turkey earned almost 191 million Turkish liras ($50.5 million) from January to February, according to the data.

The figures showed that more than 103 million vehicles went through the toll booths during the same period.

In February, almost 50 million vehicles used Turkey’s bridges and highways, paying a total of 130.5 million Turkish liras ($34.5 million).

The USD/TRY rate was 3.7869 on average last month, while one dollar was traded for 3.7792 Turkish liras averagely in the first two months of 2018.

Drivers in Turkey pay 8.75 Turkish liras ($2.2) for bridge tolls, with higher fees for vehicles with more than two axles.