Infra Insight Blog

Congress recently passed the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and under prior law, with few exceptions, tolling was prohibited on Interstate highways and many other federal-aid highways.  The bill expands the exceptions, in recognition of the fact that federal fuel tax revenues are stagnant and new revenue sources are imperative to meet the growing funding gap in surface transportation.  This expansion is tempered, however, by the fact that Congress has curtailed the existing toll pilot programs.  Nevertheless, under the new law, tolls will play an increasingly important role in transportation financing.

Government sponsors of large transportation projects will have new toll revenue options at their disposal.  They will need to develop strategies to take advantage of this new array of tolling opportunities, including use of toll concessions, as well as availability payment public-private partnerships that use tolls to reimburse public sponsors for all or a portion of the payments.