Between 2003 and 2007, annual operating costs and revenues at 15 tolling agencies averaged $85.825 million and $265.753 million, respectively.

Experience with tolling systems in North America.

Made Public Date
12/14/2011
Identifier
2011-SC00240
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Summary Information

This report covered an analysis of tolling systems to help state officials and other policy makers discuss the implementation and operational costs of alternative revenue-generating systems. Three to five years of capital and operational cost data were collected from approximately 15 tolling agencies that operate and maintain a variety of electronic toll collection and variable pricing systems including open road toll systems and managed lanes in the United States and Canada. Agencies surveyed included older turnpike systems, more recently established toll agencies, and private companies that operate toll facilities under concession agreements.

The following data excerpted from Table 26 of the source report compares operating costs with revenues. In 2007, the data show that tolling agencies expended about 33.5 percent of revenues on toll collection operations, administration, and enforcement costs.
 

Tolling Agency
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Average
Across Years
TOTAL OPERATING COSTS (in $000s)
Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA)
$29,460
$32,362
$31,516
$32,909
$33,994
$32,048
Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC)
N/A
$25,627
$25,428
$30,554
$30,919
$28,132
Dulles Toll Road
N/A
N/A
$36,758
$34,737
$38,639
$36,711
Dulles Greenway
N/A
$9,706
$13,164
$10,868
$12,468
$11,552
Denver E-470 ExpressToll
$21,393
$29,180
$25,746
$26,419
$36,717
$27,891
Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise (FTE)
N/A
N/A
$227,238
$254,883
$258,891
$247,004
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA)
$127,900
$134,995
$148,808
$149,949
$164,888
$145,308
New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA)
$230,141
$316,896
$326,309
$341,768
$365,797
$316,182
North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA)
N/A
N/A
$48,796
$52,794
$61,047
$54,212
New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA)
$160,820
$173,726
$182,406
$212,303
$194,960
$184,843
Orlando–Orange County Expressway (OOCEA)
$38,027
$45,620
$46,211
$52,563
$52,206
$46,925
Ohio Turnpike Commission (OTC)
$64,071
$67,333
$73,057
$72,035
$73,468
$69,993
San Diego I-15 Express Lanes
N/A
N/A
$2,225
$1,541
$1,385
$1,717
California SR 91 Express Lanes
N/A
$12,607
$14,506
$15,078
$15,447
$14,410
Toronto 407 Express Toll Route (ETR)
$62,825
$66,141
$68,800
$67,945
$86,522
$70,447
Average Across Agencies
$91,830
$83,109
$84,731
$90,423
$95,157
$85,825
TOTAL REVENUES (in $000s)
Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA)
$130,399
$139,471
$141,057
$143,843
$144,835
$139,921
Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission (DRJTBC)
N/A
$78,856
$79,421
$80,154
$85,503
$80,984
Dulles Toll Road
N/A
N/A
$43,727
$65,533
$64,931
$58,064
Dulles Greenway
$58,895
$73,584
$77,788
$92,185
$94,373
$79,365
Denver E-470 ExpressToll
N/A
N/A
$598,762
$647,959
$681,615
$642,779
Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise (FTE)
N/A
$40,725
$45,433
$55,294
$55,925
$49,344
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (ISTHA)
$433,495
$418,721
$612,237
$585,095
$608,440
$531,598
New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA)
$606,620
$747,932
$751,381
$784,919
$796,259
$737,422
North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA)
N/A
N/A
$177,472
$191,434
$202,676
$190,527
New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA)
$427,184
$439,583
$511,191
$554,363
$540,321
$494,528
Orlando–Orange County Expressway (OOCEA)
$154,726
$169,725
$178,830
$194,292
$204,641
$180,443
Ohio Turnpike Commission (OTC)
$182,740
$192,451
$182,014
$186,945
$200,471
$188,924
San Diego I-15 Express Lanes
N/A
N/A
$2,211
$1,617
$1,496
$1,775
California SR 91 Express Lanes
N/A
$32,375
$39,584
$44,238
$49,838
$41,509
Toronto 407 Express Toll Route (ETR)
$265,511
$318,109
$361,995
$391,375
$525,365
$372,471
Average Across Agencies
$282,446
$241,048
$253,540
$267,950
$283,779
$265,753


Additional analysis attempted to exclude capital and maintenance costs related to physical infrastructure from the seven toll collection systems listed below. The analysis found that toll collection costs as a percent of revenues ranged from 14 percent to 20 percent, and the cost per transaction ranged from $0.23 to $0.56 (WSDOT, 2007).

 

 

Toll System
Toll Collection Costs as a
Percentage of Revenues
E-470
14%
Caltrans Bridges
16%
Golden Gate Bridge
15%
Tobin Bridge
16%
TCA
17.6%
SR-91
16%
Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
20%


The capital costs for toll collection activities can vary considerably depending on the type of collection system implemented, system objectives, implementation rate, and funding availability. In addition, some agencies may incur start-up costs such as design and implementation costs while other agencies, with more mature systems, may be able to make more gradual upgrades.

The following data excerpted from Table 27 shows a wide range of capital costs for improvements implemented between 2003 and 2007.

 

 

 

 

Toll Road Agency Improvement
Total
Capital Costs
Cost Per
Year
Cost Per
Centerline Mile
Central Texas
Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA)
Design and installation of an ITS system
$20,010,000
$10,005,000
$1,725,000
Dulles Greenway Toll collection equipment
$56,137,545
$11,227,509
$4,009,825
Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) Intelligent Transportation System and Fiber Optic Improvements, Mainline

Intelligent Transportation System and Fiber Optic Improvements, Polk, and Suncoast

Addition of Sun Pass Lanes Conversion, Sawgrass

Open Road Tolling Plaza and Express Lane Conversion, Mainline

Toll System Technology Upgrades on the Mainline
$166,200,000
$41,550,000
$618,369
North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) Toll equipment for Lewisville Lake Bridge and the NTTA system
$5,742,321
-
-
Ohio Turnpike Commission (OTC) Conversion to ETC
$9,703,412
$9,703,412
-
Orlando–Orange County Expressway (OOCEA) Toll equipment and buildings
$156,978,000
$31,395,600
$1,569,780
Toronto 407 Express Toll Route (ETR) Toll equipment, transponders, operations center, office equipment, and computer equipment
$182,856,744
$20,317,416
$2,728,788

Sources: CTRMA (2005), Florida’s Turnpike System (2007, 2008), NTTA (2007), OTC (2007, 2008), OOCEA (2007), Toll Road Investors Partnership (2007), and 407 International Inc. (2007).

 

 

System Cost

See summary

System Cost Subsystem