A city divided

Community protest against Bay City Bridge Partners after recent price increase

By Emma Blakley

Video produced by Maddox Salcedo

BAY CITY, Mich. – On Feb. 11, 2024, protesters took to the streets of Downtown Bay City, right in front of the Bay City Bridge Partners’ office. 

On Feb. 3, the Bay City Bridge Partners announced in a Facebook post that the monthly unlimited subscription to two Bay City bridges would be doubling in price in March. Additionally, the unlimited crossing subscription will be ending in July 2025.

“We want to make sure that our community members are able to get around their own city.” Tom Hardy, a Democratic Socialist Association (DSA) member says.

DSA members organized the protest and hosted the event on Facebook.

Posts shared within the Facebook group “Bay City Bridge Resistance” have members making plans to rally together to design the signs that would be later seen at the protest.

Protestors and Bay City officials spoke about their thoughts on the bridge tolls. Austin Pike, a Bangor Township resident, says he hopes the bridge partners are scared. 

“The fact that two of my four options are tolled, and the other option is currently being deconstructed, I’m angry.” Pike says. “I hope [the Bay City Bridge Partners] know we are united as a community, and they can’t screw us over.”

Bay City 7th Ward Commissioner Christopher Runberg says that his final straw was the monthly unlimited subscription price raise.

“When they did the hike from $15 a month to $30 a month, that was the red line that was too far for me,” Runberg says. “It’s not right to do that to our neighbors.”

Hardy agrees that the price change is unfair.

“These toll price increases really do impact low-income people the most,” Hardy says. “Someone making $200,000 a year can easily afford any toll, but the family who makes $40k really can’t.”

According to ZipRecruiter, Bay City residents make about $31k-59k a year. The average salary in Bay City is about $46k a year, so toll increases will be felt by many in the Tri-Cities. 

“We are trying to really unite the community and give all the voices one outlet,” Hardy says. “This way, we can better negotiate with the bridge partners [and] better pressure them into making decisions that work best for the community.”