Highway Tolling Has Entered the Mainstream

Highway tolling, an idea that lay dormant for many years, suddenly appears to be catching on. A combination of factors has helped to propel highway tolling into the mainstream. Growing transportation budget shortfalls have been keeping the tolling option front and center before governors, state legislatures, and state transportation officials. The U.S. Department of Transportation has been actively encouraging this posture. Private capital markets, especially institutional investors with long-term investment horizons such as pension funds, have discovered transportation infrastructure to be an attractive investment opportunity. In a May 2003 article titled “It's Time to Take a Fresh Look at Highway Tolls,” this author speculated that tolls may assume a dominant role in the funding of new highway capacity, perhaps as early as the next decade. Five years later, that prediction is still on the mark.