Tolls for Transit: The Legal Case and Real-World Payoff

Roadway pricing is a widely used strategy to manage congestion and associated impacts like increased travel times and pollution. While pricing or tolling approaches vary, tolling has proven not only effective at reducing traffic but also at generating revenue that exceeds the costs of operating the toll facility. This raises a critical question for policymakers and toll operators: How should these revenues be used? The latest Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) perspective, Using Toll Revenues for Transit: It Can and Should Be Done, explores the policy rationale and legal framework for using toll revenues to fund public transit operations in the U.S. 

The perspective explores:

• why reinvesting toll revenues into transit is an effective strategy for improving transportation system performance on a variety of metrics;

• the legal history of tolling in the U.S., demonstrating how federal law has evolved to enable toll revenues to fund transit operations; and

• case studies of American agencies that have successfully implemented this approach across a range of toll facility types.

“Agencies in Virginia are collaborating to re-invest toll revenues from express lanes in transit, carpooling, and other transportation demand management projects,” explain the study’s authors about one case study. “Since 2017, more than $150M in toll revenues have been invested in 32 projects throughout the region, including $5.1 million to pay operating costs for a new commuter bus route as well as purchase of 6 buses for the service, benefitting thousands of riders each day.”

Over time, federal transportation policy has evolved to give agencies more flexibility in how they use toll revenues—and many have used that flexibility to invest in rail and transit systems, active transportation infrastructure, and transit-oriented development. This research brief demonstrates that these types of investments are longstanding, widespread, and beneficial, and transportation agencies should consider using toll revenues to fund integrated transportation networks.

ABOUT THE MINETA TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE

At the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) at San Jose State University (SJSU) our mission is to increase mobility for all by improving the safety, efficiency, accessibility, and convenience of our nations’ transportation system. Through research, education, workforce development and technology transfer, we help create a connected world. Founded in 1991, MTI is a university transportation center funded by the US Department of Transportation, the California Department of Transportation, and public and private grants, including those made available by the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (SB1). MTI is affiliated with SJSU’s Lucas College and Graduate School of Business.

ABOUT THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Joshua Schank, Ph.D., is a Research Associate at the Mineta Transportation Institute, a Managing Principal at InfraStrategies, and a Senior Fellow in the Institute for Transportation Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Andrew Quinn is the Assistant Deputy Director of Roadway Pricing at Caltrans, where he leads the development and implementation of equitable roadway pricing policies and strategies in collaboration with regional and local agencies. Lilly Shoup is Managing Director of Rebel Payments, Mobility, and Insights where she works to structure partnerships to achieve community policy goals. Nick Donohue is a principal at Transportation and Infrastructure Strategies LLC.

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