Domestic Top-Level Yeongjong Bridge Toll Reduced from 6,600 Won to 3,200 Won Starting October

Incheon Bridge Toll Reduced from 5,500 Won to 2,000 Won
Scheduled for Reduction by the End of 2025

The toll for Yeongjong Bridge, the highest in the country, will be reduced from 6,600 won to 3,200 won starting October 1. Additionally, the toll for Incheon Bridge will be gradually lowered from 5,500 won to 2,000 won starting at the end of 2025.

On the 6th, after the spring rain stopped, the Incheon area, including the Yeongjong Bridge in Incheon, is clearing up with no fine dust./Incheon=Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

On the 28th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it had prepared the "Yeongjong·Incheon Bridge Toll Reduction Promotion Plan," considering changes in economic conditions and the financial status of public institutions.

Previously, the Ministry had been promoting toll reductions for Yeongjong Bridge and Incheon Bridge since August 2018 under the "Private Highway Toll Management Roadmap." Incheon Bridge and Incheon Airport Expressway were constructed as private projects, and their tolls are 2.28 times and 2.89 times higher, respectively, than those of government-funded roads.

However, if the roadmap were followed as originally planned, the compensation amount to be paid to private operators would approach 3 trillion won. Moreover, deteriorating financial conditions of public institutions and the economy made it difficult to proceed. As the government's implementation of the roadmap was repeatedly delayed, residents of Yeongjong International City announced a large-scale vehicle protest on March 1, demanding a toll reduction for Yeongjong Bridge in Incheon. With public sentiment worsening, President Yoon Suk-yeol instructed the day before, "Regarding the Yeongjong·Incheon Bridge tolls, even if it was a promise by the previous government, it is a national promise, so promptly seek a resolution for the people of the metropolitan area."

Accordingly, the Ministry decided to reduce the Yeongjong Bridge toll from 2.28 times to 1.1 times that of government-funded expressways starting October 1 this year. This will lower the one-way toll between Yeongjong and Seoul from 6,600 won to 3,200 won. For Incheon Bridge, considering the compensation amount to private operators, the toll will be gradually reduced from 2.89 times to 1.1 times that of government-funded expressways starting at the end of 2025. In this case, the one-way toll between Yeongjong and Songdo will be reduced from 5,500 won to 2,000 won.

A Ministry official stated, "After 2025, interest rates and inflation are expected to stabilize, and the management conditions of Incheon International Airport Corporation will improve, enhancing the capacity for new investments by public institutions."

Korea Expressway Corporation and Incheon International Airport Corporation will jointly invest in Yeongjong and Incheon Bridges, and after the private highway concession period ends, public institutions will operate the bridges and recover the investment. The Ministry plans to form a consultative body with Korea Expressway Corporation, Incheon International Airport Corporation, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Incheon City, and other related agencies to promote support measures such as institutional improvements for new public investments and to establish a detailed toll reduction roadmap.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong said, "Through this plan, the toll burden for many citizens using Yeongjong Bridge and Incheon Bridge will be reduced, improving access to Incheon Airport and helping to enhance its competitiveness."