(The Center Square) – A legislative committee this week entertained a presentation on the feasibility for converting existing Michigan roadways into toll roads.
The Senate Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure convened Tuesday to listen to the HNTB Corp. consultancy group explain its toll road feasibility study and implementation plan, which was released in November.
The study and plan were commissioned by the Michigan Department of Transportation as required by Public Act 140 of 2020 and Public Act 73 of 2022.
The Michigan Statewide Tolling Study places the Great Lakes State in the company of “at least four other states” that have conducted major studies on the feasibility of converting existing highways into toll roads. Other states listed were Connecticut, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
“A new statewide tolling program could generate significant transportation revenue – enough to sustain the life-cycle costs of the tolled roadways – but would be complicated and would require a careful approach to implementation. It would involve a wide range of technical, social, environmental, financial, and regulatory steps,” the study states.
Among existing roadways under consideration for Phase 1 of a toll-road conversion are I-69, I-75, I-94, I-96, I-196, I-275, I-696, US-23, US-131, M-6, M-10, M-14, M-39, and M-59. Implementation could occur between five and seven years. Phase II would include parts of I-75, I-94, I-96, US-23, and could be implemented between seven and 14 years.
HTNB authors state the study is neutral, although one subheading is titled, “Overall, tolling could have a positive impact on Michigan’s economy.” Rather than offering a specific agenda, they say, the research and analysis conducted between late 2020 and late 2022 is data-driven.
One of the rationales for the study included a projected decline in the state’s fuel-tax revenues as a result of the rising use of electric vehicles and the current tax climate that doesn’t require electric vehicle drivers to contribute to the state’s tax coffers.
According to the study’s authors, “Michigan could generate between $1.5B and $2.8B in annual gross toll revenue if the entire limited access highway system was tolled.”
By 2040, the authors assert, an additional $500 million in gas tax revenues will be lost due to high electric vehicle adoption. In 2021, motor fuel taxes generated 39% of the $3.4 billion Michigan Transportation Fund.
The HTNB analysis included three different toll rates for passenger vehicles: $0.04 per mile, $0.06 per mile, and $0.08 per mile. Truck toll rates were estimated at 1.5 times to 4 times higher than passenger vehicles. The projected rates were based on 2020 dollars, but any toll rates instituted with be subject to increase annually at the rate of inflation, the study’s authors state.
The analysis is based on all-electronic, not toll booths manned by human collectors. This would require the installation of transponders in vehicles that would track driver activities on toll roads. Vehicle owners choosing to opt out of using a transponder would be allowed to pay toll fees by mail or online.
