Toll roads gaining traction after first three years

By Rob Heidrick Friday, 05 February 2010

More drivers bring more revenue, but long-term impact remains to be seen

WILLIAMSON COUNTY — Conceived during a period of rapid regional growth, the Central Texas Turnpike System was built to accomplish three primary goals: relieve traffic on existing roadways, generate transportation funding and provide a way for drivers to bypass local traffic altogether.

Three years after the tolls first opened, transportation officials and local drivers continue to evaluate the system’s effectiveness.

The CTTS, which includes Toll 1, Toll 45 N and Toll 130, is overseen by the Texas Department of Transportation. According to the agency’s year-end report, the system generated $58.9 million in revenue from more than 7 million transactions during the 2009 fiscal year. Average weekday ridership and revenue surpassed expectations by 40 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

Toll 45 N established a major east-west corridor for drivers north of Austin, allowing direct travel between Hwy. 183, MoPac, IH 35 and Toll 130. Toll 130 provided a new option for bypassing downtown Austin, with a spike in use since Toll 45 SE connected its southern endpoint to IH 35 last May.

Toll 183A, overseen by the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, has also helped reduce drive times in in Cedar Park and Leander, according to a 2009 CTRMA report.

But traffic remains heavy in many areas, particularly on IH 35. Bottlenecks form because there is little room to add lanes to the road, and many trucking companies choose to take the interstate instead of paying to use the tolled alternatives.

“You’re braking and sitting in traffic, idling and braking, moving up 20 feet and braking,” Round Rock City Councilman Joe Clifford said. “That’s wear and tear on your automobile. That engine is running; it’s fuel usage; it’s more pollution. Anything you can do to decrease congestion, I’m in favor of, and right now, I think our only option is toll roads.”

Funding solutions

Toll roads are seen as a possible answer to the state’s ongoing struggles to fund transportation projects. Existing sources of transportation funding, most notably state and federal gas taxes, are on the decline as cars become more fuel-efficient, reducing gas consumption without decreasing traffic volume. Without new sources of funding, taxes are bound to increase, Clifford said.

Toll collections alone do not cover the full cost of building and maintaining the turnpike system—the roads are also funded through bonds, federal programs, loans, equity investment and public-private partnerships—but TxDOT spokeswoman Karen Amacker said toll transactions go a long way in offsetting ongoing costs.

“When it comes to maintaining the roadway and operating the toll collections process, our first choice is to use the toll revenues for that. But our toll revenues need to go toward our bond service as well,” Amacker said. “Right now the revenues that we make on 130, 45 [N] and [Toll 1] aren’t quite enough to cover the debt service and operations cost, so that is offset to some degree by the state highway fund.”

Clifford, who serves on the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board of directors, said he favors toll roads because they have been effective in managing congestion in cities as large as Houston.

They also provide a sustainable source of revenue, as opposed to the traditional transportation funding model, he said.

“I support tolls because there really is no other option, and that’s because of the money,” Clifford said. “Toll roads don’t have to wait [as long] for funding. ... They just go up. Look at 45, 130 and 183. In highway time, they were done quickly.”

He said another drawback to the state’s funding methods is that they tend to put a heavy financial burden on local municipalities. When TxDOT closed ramps near the intersection of IH 35 and Toll 45 to make way for the new interchange, the city had to sponsor improvements to Hesters Crossing and upgrade other adjoining streets.

He worries that without changes to the transportation model, cities will be hard-pressed to make up gaps in state funding.

“Local municipalities will have to pony up a large amount of money,” Clifford said. “We just can’t depend on the federal government or the state for the money. It’s just not there.”

Free alternatives

State transportation guidelines restrict the conversion of nontolled highways into toll roads. For existing lanes to be made into tolled lanes, a measure would have to be adopted by county commissioners and approved by voters, Amacker said.

Some toll roads, such as Toll 1 north of MoPac, have free alternatives within a short distance. Drivers on MoPac have the option to exit south of Wells Branch Parkway and avoid paying a toll altogether by taking FM 1325 into Round Rock. The availability of the free option has had a negative impact on toll revenue, Amacker said, suggesting a delicate tradeoff in the amount drivers are willing to pay to avoid having to wait in traffic.

Toll 1 yielded $10.8 million in fiscal year 2009—virtually no increase over the prior year and $1 million short of expectations.

However, Toll 183A, the tolled alternative to US 183, has managed to split traffic between the two roads while still taking in a healthy level of revenue. CTRMA Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein said while the new road provides another option for drivers who want to bypass traffic, it also makes the original road a more viable route.

“The big success of 183A is that it freed up capacity on old 183,” he said. “Some people still choose to take the old road, but they are maybe six cars back from the traffic light instead of having to wait three or four cycles.”

Economic development

As new roadways steer drivers in new directions, they also open the door for development opportunities. Stone Hill Town Center in Pflugerville is a prime example of this principle.

Located at the southwest corner of Toll 45 and Toll 130, the shopping center could become the heart of a new development corridor sustained by customers exiting the roadways.

Pflugerville’s population recently passed the 50,000 mark—up from 16,000 in the 2000 census—and the city is poised to continue expanding eastward along Toll 130, which could help establish the toll road as not only a traffic bypass but also a spine for commercial growth at the local level.

Heiligenstein said each road serves a different function within the larger regional framework, and while development often follows new roads, the inverse is also true.

“I don’t think our roads induce growth so much as they are anticipating where the growth is going to happen,” he said. “For every road we do, we have to analyze its impact on every other road in the area. Transportation—getting from A to B—is everything. It’s very clear that without that type of infrastructure, our region will wither.”