Pharr bridge reports higher January vehicle crossings and strong toll revenues
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Summary
Officials reported 110,675 total crossings in January 2026 and toll revenues driving a bulk of the bridge authority's receipts; the finance consultant said total revenues were $8,863,945 and noted bond funding progress for the expansion program.
Pharr International Bridge officials reported significant traffic and revenue gains for January 2026, with Director Luis Bassan saying the bridge recorded 110,675 crossings for the month and that they "had a great month."
The update, delivered during the board's administrative report, said southbound car crossings were 47,070 (up about 1.11% year-over-year) while northbound car crossings rose to 47,607 in January, a 14.64% year-over-year increase. Bassan attributed part of the northbound gain to tourism traffic from the Monterrey region choosing Pharr for a faster crossing.
Finance consultant Eddie Gutierrez of Bluestone Capital Solutions presented a separate, more detailed finance report that placed total revenues through January at $8,863,945, with toll collections comprising about 97% of that total ($8,564,676). Gutierrez said credit-card fees accounted for $94,000, bond interest $65,000, peso exchange $25,000, rental income $79,000 and other receipts $34,000. Operating expenses were reported at $3,108,986, roughly 35% of revenues, with debt service the largest expense and personnel costs around $400,499.
"We're right on budget where we're supposed to be at," Gutierrez said, noting the agency remains within expected spending benchmarks and that revenues exceeded budgeted toll projections through January. He also reported bond funding for the expansion program: roughly $33,652,000 (about 91% funded) for the bridge expansion and about $8,630,680 (about 48% funded) for the project referred to in the record as 'DAP 16.'
Board members moved and approved routine procedural items during the meeting, including approval of the minutes for Jan. 21, 2026.
The finance presentation included recapture-rate data showing vehicles historically above parity and truck recapture rates near par for the current year, which staff said supports the authority's revenue projections. Several figures announced from the director's earlier summary were unclear on the record and differ from the later finance presentation; those items were flagged for clarification in board discussion.
