Delaware collects tolls from fewer Memorial Day travelers than last year

Memorial Day traffic through Delaware toll plazas fell for the second year in a row, with about 5,000 fewer cars passing through between Friday and Monday.

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start to the beach season, drawing thousands each year to lower Delaware. The holiday is also a big travel weekend nationwide.

The three plazas took payment from 960,841 vehicles over the holiday weekend, according to state transportation department data. That was down from 2017, but the number had tumbled even farther from 2016 when more than 1 million used them.

Though there were 8,860 fewer vehicles passing through the toll plaza on Interstate 95 in Newark this year compared with 2017, traffic through Del. 1 plazas picked up. 

The Biddle's Corner Toll Plaza saw a more than 2,600 vehicle uptick over 2017 and the Dover Toll Plaza processed nearly 1,300 more vehicles than last year.

The Dover Toll Plaza recorded 280,765 vehicles between Friday and Monday. The Biddle’s Corner Toll Plaza recorded 271,313 vehicles in that same time. 

In 2017, the Dover Toll Plaza and the Biddle’s Corner Toll Plaza  processed vehicle totals of 279,486 and 268,679, respectively, according to department data.

The Newark Toll Plaza on Interstate 95 saw the most traffic between Friday and Monday, according to transportation department data — nearly 409,000 vehicles.

The 2017 total at the Newark Toll Plaza was 417,623 vehicles.

Including Thursday traffic, the weekend's tolls reached $3.2 million. In 2017, that total was about the same, and in 2016 the total was almost $3.3 million. 

Department data on dollar totals from previous years was not immediately available.

Sixty-seven percent of the vehicles used the electronic toll collection system E-ZPass.