Our tolls on low end compared to other states'
Daily I-PASS users already may wince at their credit card bills, and those charges could become even more painful if the Illinois tollway increases rates to subsidize a massive construction program.
But compared with tolls in other states, Illinois commuters aren't so bad off, nor are they alone in facing toll hikes.
A review of several toll authorities through the Midwest and East Coast shows a trend of rate spikes for a variety of reasons.
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority officials contend the change is necessary to pay for a $12 billion, 15-year capital works plan. A series of hearings on the issue starts today.
“When we look to the future of our region, there's a cost for doing nothing and that cost is a Jane Addams Tollway that's more and more crowded and needs to be rebuilt now. That cost is continued congestion — we're the most congested region in the country — and stagnant economic growth,” tollway Executive Director Kristi Lafleur said.
Currently, the tollway, which encompasses 286 miles of road, charges about 3 cents a mile for I-PASS customers in passenger cars.
On average, drivers in passenger cars using electronic tolling on the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road also pay about 3 cents a mile. On the 241-mile Ohio Turnpike, the toll average is 4.2 cents a mile, while further east, the Pennsylvania Turnpike charges 7.7 cents a mile and the 138-mile Massachusetts Turnpike levies 9 cents a mile.
The Illinois tollway's average would go to 6 cents a mile under the new proposal, but an individual's cost increase could depend on his or her specific commute. The tollway's plan proposes toll hikes of 35 cents at 40-cent plazas, 45 cents at 50-cent plazas, and increases at ramps ranging from 15 cents to 45 cents.
So, that would mean an I-PASS customer commuting daily from Arlington Heights to Lombard on I-355 and using tolled access ramps would pay $1.35 more a day, or $337.50 a year, assuming two weeks of vacation.
As for truckers, the electronic-tolling charges are higher in Illinois — at 35 cents a mile — than those other states, with Ohio offering the lowest rate at 13 cents per mile.
Both Indiana and Pennsylvania raised tolls this year and intend to implement increases in 2012.
“A change in toll rates is a difficult thing for agencies. It's not something they take lightly, but they do have costs that keep escalating,” said P.J. Wilkins, executive director of the E-ZPass group, a national coalition of toll authorities.
“There's fewer federal dollars to states for infrastructure and more projects are placed on the shoulders of toll agencies.”
Other authorities considering rate hikes include the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the Maryland Transportation Authority, Wilkins said.
In 2005, the Illinois tollway raised fees for vehicles using manual plazas. In 2008, it boosted fees for trucks and commercial vehicles that won't take effect until 2015.
DePaul University transportation professor Joseph Schwieterman says the agency should have bitten the bullet and charged I-PASS users more years ago.
“The tollway is paying the price for the shortsighted decision to keep it at 40 cents for I-PASS and raise it for everyone else,” Schwieterman said.
At least now, he said, the agency is thinking “long-term, which is sorely needed as the highway system crumbles.”
Federal aid dubious
The Illinois tollway's capital plan includes $8 billion to maintain and repair existing roads, and to widen the Jane Addams Tollway (I-90) between O'Hare International Airport and Rockford.
The other $4 billion would pay for an interchange at I-57 and the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) in the South suburbs, to extend the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway east into the airport, and build a bypass around the western edge of O'Hare connecting with the Tri-State to the south and I-90 to the north. It also would include studies on expanding Route 53 north into Lake County and constructing the Illiana Expressway, connecting I-55 near Joliet to I-65 in Indiana.
“I can't necessarily speak to what went into the decision process before,” said Lafleur, who started at the tollway in spring 2010. The spike in cash rates for passenger cars in 2005 drove many people to get I-PASS transponders and those customers make up 75 percent of the agency's traffic. But because those rates haven't gone up since 1983, “we're a victim of our own success,” Lafleur said.
The state of Indiana leased its toll road to a private-sector company, ITC Concession Co., in 2006. Since taking over, it's been a case of playing catch-up with toll rates, concession company spokeswoman Amber Kettring said in an email.
Now, Indiana Toll Road users can expect annual toll hikes based on the Consumer Price Index or 2 percent, depending on what's greater. “These schedules protect ITR users from massive one-time toll increases,” Kettring said.
In Pennsylvania, legislators passed a law in 2007 requiring the turnpike to turn over excess revenues to the state department of transportation.
“As a result, we have raised tolls every year since 2009,” turnpike commission communications director Bill Capone said. “We expect to be doing that for the foreseeable future.”
So far, $3 billion has been transferred to state coffers. The extra funds also are being used to pay for a massive road rebuilding and widening program, Capone said.
While there's no move here for the Illinois Department of Transportation to sponge on tollway revenues, it's also apparent there's little state or federal money available.
“There's no realistic prospect of state or federal funds covering the lion's share of the cost of (capital projects like Elgin-O'Hare),” Schwieterman said.
And, said Wilkins, former toll administrator for the state of Delaware, “every indication is that it's going to keep getting worse.” That's because federal funding for transportation projects comes from the motor fuel tax, which is declining as people respond to high fuel prices by buying more efficient cars and driving less, he said.
The tollway is expecting a lively debate at upcoming hearings, and one board member is already questioning the agency's math.
Tollway Director Bill Morris of Grayslake is offering an alternative to the official proposal, recommending a 15-cent bump at 40-cent toll plazas with corresponding increases elsewhere. Such an adjustment would cover a 10-year capital plan and allow work to start on the Elgin-O'Hare and interchange projects. His proposal also suggests reviewing toll rates every three years with the assumption that increases would be likely.
“There's no reason to make a major rate adjustment (now) because the past board didn't do what it was supposed to,” Morris said.
The agency is still reviewing Morris' plan, Lafleur said, but added that it falls short partly because it does not allow for construction-cost inflation.
If the official plan is approved, tolls would stay at the new levels for up to 15 years unless a major new construction project is required or the economy does a nose-dive into a depression, Lafleur noted.
“We've tried to be very conservative with the amount of money set aside for existing system needs.”
Have your say
The Illinois tollway hosts local hearings on its proposed rate hike.
Ÿ 4 to 6 p.m. today, Kane County Government Center, 719 S. Batavia Ave., Geneva.
Ÿ 7 to 9 p.m. today, DuPage County Government Center, 421 N. County Farm Road, Wheaton.
Ÿ 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Libertyville Civic Center, 135 W. Church St.
Ÿ 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Village of Huntley, 10987 Main St.
Ÿ 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Court.
Ÿ 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Buffalo Grove Village Hall, 50 Raupp Blvd.