Conditions contributing to the attitudes for toll facilities in the United States with a specific focus on Virginia

Abstract

Although the form of toll facilities has evolved, a review of how they have been used in the United States since its early colonial period suggests four conditions that appear to have influenced the likelihood of tolls being used to support construction or maintenance activities: the relative stability of revenue streams from user fees compared to the stability of revenues from a general tax; the availability of technologies to collect tolls without degrading the user’s experience; the presence of design innovations for toll facilities (compared to non-toll facilities); and the relative size of market benefits (for toll facilities) compared to societal benefits (for non-toll facilities). Even though revenue is one motivation for having a toll facility, other factors help explain why the popularity of toll facilities has risen or fallen. During the late 1800s, the network benefits of a smooth surface appealed to a large group (bicyclists) and generated a popular demand for public facilities. Yet in the early 1940s, another innovation—consistency of geometric design—spurred a market among paying customers for limited access highways. Collectively, such factors support five periods that characterize different public attitudes toward toll facilities: colonial/early federal period (from 1607 to 1775), turnpike era (from circa 1792 to 1845), toll reluctance era (from 1879 to 1939), post-World War II era (from 1939 to 1963), and renewed interest in tolling period (from circa 1976 to the present).

Support for and Behavioral Responses to Tolls

“…Through a public-private partnership, tolls were introduced to finance infrastructure and traffic condition improvements. According to Lee and Miller (2016), tolls have been an approach to manage rather than control highway congestion. Currently, both the Midtown Tunnel and Downtown Tunnel have implemented the use of all electronic tolling.…”

What Difference Does Time Make? Analysis of Driver Behaviors Before and After Toll Implementation

“…The state of Virginia has a long history of toll facilities (Lee & Miller, 2016) and was one of the first states in the country to use tolls and public-private partnerships to pay for roadway projects (Nichols & Belfield, 2016). Multiple tolled facilities exist in the Hampton Roads region.…”

Mapping Studies on Sustainability in the Performance Measurement of Public-Private Partnership Projects: A Systematic Review

“…Historically, the partnership between the state and the private sector in the delivery of infrastructure projects can be traced back as early as 1600s [1,2]. Evidence suggests that in 1800s, the United Kingdom (UK), United States (US) and France governments delivered turnpikes and water facilities with the financial support of the private sector [3,4]. Fastforward to the 1990s, the public sector received a massive boost in private funding of mega infrastructure projects when United Kingdom government rebranded and reintroduced this aged-old model in the built environment and termed it as Public Finance Initiative (PFI).…”