Express lanes? Dynamic pricing? Here’s what tollway plan could mean for your commute

The Illinois tollway’s latest strategic plan offers two initiatives that could change how drivers navigate the region.

Approved last week, the new to-do list includes exploring dynamic pricing and identifying “opportunities for express lanes” by converting existing lanes or building new ones.

So, what does that mean?

With many metropolitan highways maxed out, one tool to reduce gridlock is the creation of managed lanes, or a “freeway within a freeway,” experts explained.

“They come in all different shapes and sizes,” said Tanya Sheres of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association.

Drivers can access these designated lanes through a smorgasbord of options such as carpooling or paying an additional fee.

Some are built alongside regular travel lanes so drivers can visualize the time savings, said Sheres, the IBTTA’s communications vice president.

“The customer can see that in direct correlation — you’re either going to sit in congestion or you’re going to move. And they can make that real-time judgment as to whether they need what we call ‘travel insurance’ to get to where they need to go.”

The Federal Highway Administration requires an average speed of 45 mph on managed lanes.

“You can introduce congestion relief as well as potentially introduce some new revenue for additional infrastructure funding,” Sheres said.

There are 359 toll facilities across 33 states in the U.S. Of those, 287 are traditional and 72 have managed lanes.

The different flavors include:

• High occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes that are free for carpoolers with two or more occupants.

• High occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, free for carpoolers but solo drivers must pay.

• Express toll lanes (ETL) that charge a fee for use.

• Congestion/dynamic pricing. Typically, congestion priced lanes involve paying fees during rush hour. “With dynamic pricing, tolls are continually adjusted according to traffic conditions to maintain a free-flowing level of traffic. Prices increase when the tolled lanes get relatively full” and decrease when it’s less busy, the FHWA noted.

What’s the best system? “It really depends on the metro area; what their travel challenges are to meet. At the end of the day, the goal is throughput — how do you move more people through in a free-flowing capacity,” Sheres said.

Eleven states, including California, Minnesota and Florida, have price-based managed lanes that generate about $4.7 billion annually. Of those facilities, 58% have dynamic pricing and 33% have rush-hour based tolls, the IBTTA reported.

E-ZPass Minnesota’s HOT lanes include a congestion component, operating weekdays between 6 and 10 a.m., and 3 and 7 p.m. In the Twin Cities, an average of nearly 19,870 car and van pools used the system daily compared to 8,010 solo drivers in 2024, Minnesota Department of Transportation spokesperson Anne Meyer said.

“We estimate that an E-ZPass lane can move twice as many people as a general lane during peak hour traffic,” Meyer said.

Managed lanes are ideal for reducing traffic jams in the Chicago region, Metropolitan Planning Council Senior Director Audrey Wennink said.

Where should they go?

“We should think big,” as in the Eisenhower Expressway, Wennink said. A plan to improve I-290 in west Cook County has languished for years.

“There is widespread agreement that tolling should be part of that project” to help fund it, Wennink said. “Right now, we’re struggling with finding enough money to maintain the systems that we have in this region.”

Gridlock alert

Ouch. Route 53 drivers in Lisle and Woodridge should brace for delays as workers dig into a resurfacing project. Intermittent daytime lane closures will start Monday between 61st and 75th streets. Repairs should wrap up in November.

You should know

Aug. 11 is the last day to lock in bargain registration prices for the annual Bike the Drive where cyclists take over DuSable Lake Shore Drive on Aug. 31. To register for the Active Transportation Alliance event, visit bikethedrive.org/register. New volunteer opportunities and complimentary youth entries are now available.