Skip to Content
Streetsblog San Francisco home
Streetsblog San Francisco home
Log In
Highway Expansion

Obama Administration Touts Nation’s First All-Electronic Toll Road in N.C.

10:26 AM PDT on August 13, 2009

The U.S. DOT dispatched Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez to North Carolina yesterday to kick off construction of the $1 billion Triangle Expressway, the state's first toll road and the nation's first to use per-mile electronic tolling.

tolls_220x165.jpgThe scene at yesterday's N.C. toll road groundbreaking. (Photo: WRAL)

The highway was financed by a package of toll-backed bonds and Build America Bonds, supplemented by a $386 million loan
from the Obama DOT. Electronic tolls would be levied on drivers through
a windshield-mounted transponder device that deducts fees based on the
number of miles driven.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood hailed the tolling method on his blog today,  calling it a sign that the Triangle Expressway is "not just another highway."

Indeed,
the success of an all-electronic system such as North Carolina's could
pave the way for tech-dependent tolls on vehicle miles traveled (VMT)
and congestion pricing as supplements to the increasingly outmoded federal gas tax.

Some local residents, however, have aired concerns
about the toll road's impact on low-income drivers who lack the means
to purchase a transponder. Those without the device will have to pay
higher toll bills that are mailed based on video-captured images of
their license plates.

Meanwhile, transit expansion in the
Triangle area of Raleigh-Durham is proceeding, albeit at a slower pace
than the new toll road. The state legislature voted in April
to let counties opt for local sales taxes to pay for rail and bus
improvements. Those taxes would likely come before voters in mid-2010
at the earliest.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog San Francisco

Guest Commentary: Traffic Engineers Must Put Safety Over Driver Throughput

No other field would tolerate this level of death and destruction. The tragedy of West Portal is more evidence that the traffic engineering profession is fundamentally broken

March 27, 2024
See all posts