{
  "id": "R43575",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R43575",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
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      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 457938,
      "date": "2016-08-26",
      "retrieved": "2017-01-03T22:42:35.080958",
      "title": "Tolling U.S. Highways",
      "summary": "Toll roads have a long history in the United States going back to the early days of the republic. During the 18th century, most were local roads or bridges that could not be built or improved with local appropriations alone. During the tolling boom of the late 1940s and early 1950s, the prospect of toll revenues allowed states to build thousands of miles of limited-access highways much sooner than would have been the case with traditional funding. The imposition of tolls on existing federal-aid highways is restricted under federal law, and while new toll facilities have opened in several states, some of those projects have struggled financially.\nThe failure of federal highway user taxes and fees to provide sufficient revenues to fund the surface transportation program authorized by Congress beginning in FY2008 renewed interest in expanded toll financing. The recently passed five-year surface transportation act, the Fixing America\u2019s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act; P.L. 114-94), made few changes in tolling policy. Nonetheless, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that annual highway revenues, mostly from motor fuels taxes, will fall an average of $20 billion short of the amount needed to sustain the current federal surface transportation program between FY2021 and FY2025. This impending shortfall could again revive congressional interest in tolling.\nCongress could achieve an expansion of tolling in several ways. At one extreme, it could simply encourage tolling pilot projects on federal-aid highways, of which relatively few have been implemented to date. At the other extreme, Congress might authorize states to toll federal-aid highways as they see fit, or even require that Interstate Highway segments be converted to toll roads as they undergo reconstruction in the future, eventually turning all Interstates into toll roads.\nWhatever policies Congress adopts, tolls are likely to play only a limited role in funding surface transportation projects. The costs of toll collection on many existing toll roads exceed 10% of revenues even if all tolls are collected electronically, not including the cost of toll collection infrastructure. This compares unfavorably to the cost of collecting the existing federal motor fuels taxes, estimated to be about 1% of revenues. Many roads may not have sufficient traffic willing to pay a high enough toll to cover construction, maintenance, and toll collection costs. The availability of competing non-tolled routes may allow motorists to evade tolls. In addition, political concerns often limit the ability of operators to raise toll rates.\nBeyond a requirement that bridge tolls \u201cshall be just and reasonable\u201d and a provision limiting tolls on over-the-road buses, current federal law provides no role for the federal government in regulating toll rates or practices. A number of states offer preferential tolls for in-state residents or residents of particular localities. Some states have attempted to collect tolls at borders rather than at internal locations where more residents would be affected, and in a number of places trucking interests have complained that truck tolls are excessive compared to auto tolls. More widespread use of tolls is likely to raise questions about the extent to which tolling should be subject to federal oversight.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4826,
          "name": "Highways & Highway Vehicles"
        },
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 4867,
          "name": "Transportation Funding"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 431473,
      "date": "2014-05-30",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T20:22:39.315671",
      "title": "Tolling U.S. Highways",
      "summary": "The failure of federal highway user taxes and fees to provide sufficient revenues to support even baseline surface transportation spending levels has encouraged Congress to consider expanded toll financing. Congress has cautiously encouraged increased use of tolling in recent transportation legislation, including the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21; P.L. 112-141). Recent projections of a $15 billion annual gap between revenue anticipated from taxes dedicated to surface transportation and the cost of maintaining the current federal surface transportation program have stimulated interest in changing tolling policy in conjunction with reauthorizing or replacing MAP-21.\nCongress could achieve an expansion of tolling in several ways. At one extreme, it could simply encourage additional tolling pilot projects and a further expansion of tolling-supported innovative finance, such as more loans for road and bridge construction through the U.S. Department of Transportation\u2019s (DOT\u2019s) Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program, which would be repaid through user tolls. At the other extreme, Congress might authorize states to toll federal-aid highways as they see fit, or even require that Interstate Highway segments be converted to toll roads as they undergo reconstruction in the future, eventually turning all Interstates into toll roads.\nThe amount of revenue that could be generated by tolling depends heavily on the way in which tolling is implemented. However, broader use of tolling faces a number of constraints. The costs of toll collection may exceed 10% of revenues, even if all tolls are collected electronically, not including the cost of physical infrastructure. This compares unfavorably to the cost of collecting the existing federal motor fuels taxes, estimated to be less than 1% of revenues. Many roads, even in urban areas, may not have sufficient traffic willing to pay a high enough toll to cover construction, maintenance, and toll collection costs. The availability of competing nontolled routes could lead to evasion if motorists consider tolls excessive.\nEfforts to make greater use of tolling are likely to draw attention to the federal role in regulating tolls. Under current law, federal approval is needed for initial implementation of tolls on roads and bridges that have received federal aid, but the federal government has no jurisdiction over toll rates. The law requires that bridge tolls \u201cshall be just and reasonable,\u201d but provides no mechanism for enforcing that provision. More widespread use of tolls is likely to raise significant questions about differences in states\u2019 toll rates, preferential tolls for residents of particular jurisdictions, state attempts to collect tolls at borders rather than at internal locations where more residents would be affected, and the relationship between auto tolls and truck tolls. Congress may consider a more precise definition of the current \u201cjust and reasonable\u201d requirement and clarify the role of DOT in enforcing tolling regulations and overseeing toll rates.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "IBCList",
          "id": 3760,
          "name": "Surface Transportation"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Appropriations",
    "Transportation Policy"
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}