OTTAWA — Transport Canada has approved the annual adjustment to toll rates for the Confederation Bridge.

Starting Jan. 1, 2007, the year-to-year inflation adjustment results in a $0.25 increase for all types of vehicles, except for motorcycles, pedestrians and cyclists

The charge for every additional axle remains unchanged at $6.75, announced the bridge operator Strait Crossing Development.

Under the 1993 Bridge Operating Agreement signed between the Government of Canada and Strait Crossing Development Inc., the bridge operator is entitled to adjust toll rates to inflation every January 1st by an amount not exceeding three-quarters (75 percent) of the increase in the Consumer Price Index over the previous calendar year.

Recently, Transport Minster Lawrence Cannon cited the Confederation Bridge as a successful example of public-private operation. Cannon suggested a public-private partnership could be the solution to building a new bridge in the busy Windsor, Ont.-Detroit border region.