HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Blame dwindling demand for the Mackinac Bridge Authority officials’ decision to stop accepting bridge tokens in the toll lanes starting on Sept. 10, 2019.
Though the tokens have long been part of the Mackinac Bridge crossing experience, very few have been redeemed for tolls in recent years. Citing this decreased use, the Mackinac Bridge Authority decided in July to end their use in toll lanes.
“We currently only see two or three customers use tokens to pay the toll each day, and we only sell a few of our commemorative token sets,” said MBA Executive Secretary Kim Nowack. “Most customers still pay tolls with cash, MacPass cards, and increasingly with credit cards.”
The MBA issued many different versions of the tokens over the years, available in rolls of 24. Commemorative token sets of two – memorializing people such as Prentiss Brown and David Steinman, as well as eight different designs in honor of the Mackinac Straits ferries – will still be available for purchase as keepsakes: https://www.mackinacbridge.org/shopping/token-gift-packs-medallion/.
“We encourage customers to either use their remaining tokens over the next few weeks, redeem them later at the bridge office, or hold on to them as the collectors’ items they will become,” Nowack said.
