A Five-Year Highway Bill Includes Modest Step to Expand Tolling

Permission for states to consider tolling existing Interstate highways for purposes of their reconstruction and rehabilitation is one of the breakthrough provisions in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, a five-year, $305-billion surface transportation bill the U.S. Congress sent to President Barack Obama for signature this week.

The 1,300-page bill, the first long-term highway measure in 10 years, culminates a marathon negotiation among legislators and three years of advocacy by IBTTA’s Moving America Forward Campaign. Tolling even received the lead mention in the New York Times coverage of the Act’s passage.

“Some Interstate highways now free to travelers could soon become toll roads,” wrote Times reporter Ron Nixon, in the first sentence of his FAST Act coverage.

“The tolling provision in the bill is an improvised expansion of existing law,” Nixon explained later in an article that pointed to changes in a state pilot project initiative that has been stalled since it was introduced in 1998. “Under the new transportation bill, these states will have one year to move ahead with plans to add tolls or lose their slots to other states ready to add tolls to their highways. The new states then would have three years to complete projects or be removed from the pilot.”

Nixon cited IBTTA Executive Director and CEO Pat Jones’ comment that “this is a good idea to remove the logjam and allow states that are ready to go to get into the pilot program and move ahead with tolls to help pay for crumbling roads and bridges.”

By agreeing to the broader, five-year budget reauthorization, Jones said Congress “has taken an important step to provide the certainty needed to move forward on transportation improvements across the country.” He added that “IBTTA and the tolling industry are ready to work with Congress, state officials and other stakeholders over the next few years to identify funding sources and other financing and funding tools that can serve as the basis for the next reauthorization bill.”

The bill was seen as a victory for House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and a career-capping milestone for retiring Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), with legislators on both sides of the aisle stressing the importance of the decision.

“This bill will be one of the most important things this Congress can accomplish for our country,” said Bill Shuster (R-PA), Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “It's a big deal. It's really a big deal,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Chair of the Senate Finance Committee.

Click here for more on IBTTA’s Moving America Forward campaign.