TACOMA, Wash. -- Fewer cars mean fewer tolls being paid on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and that means a price hike for drivers.

Prices could go up for the bridge this summer even though drivers without the discounted Good to Go pass pay $4 to cross the bridge eastbound.

Tolls are going up because people aren't using the bridge as much as expected.

The Washington Department of Transportation projected that 13.9 million drivers would cross the bridge in its first year, but those numbers fell short by 4-percent or around 14,000 toll paying drivers.

Some business owners said they’ve seen a slowdown in business, but aren’t ready to blame the tolls.

“I live in Tacoma. I come over the bridge all the time and I thought, ‘oh no’ when I heard the tolls were going up, but I imagine I'll still do it,” said Sharon Carr of Gallery Row.

According to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Tolls Citizens Advisory committee -- another issue could be that more drivers are buying the discounted Good to Go passes than expected.

That may lead to a higher charge for drivers using the passes as well.