Trump infrastructure proposal would allow long-banned tolls along interstates

Bart Jansen | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Tolls are one way President Trump hopes to finance more highway and bridge projects, with his proposal Monday aiming to lift the longstanding federal prohibition against such fees on interstate highways.

The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association sought the change as a way to expand tolling, in states that support it, for roadway rehabilitation projects.

“This is one of the tools in the toolbox,” said Pat Jones, the group’s CEO. “We’re not saying you should toll all interstate highways.”

The proposal is contentious in Congress. Some Democratic lawmakers have criticized Trump's reliance on tolling as a reward for Wall Street financiers who view toll roads as profit-generating monopolies.

“The middle class need not ask for whom this bill tolls, it tolls for thee,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. “They don’t need higher local taxes and Trump tolls on top of all that.”

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said tolls are an option for states with limited resources to finance projects. She said 26 states disallow private investment in public infrastructure.

“Unfortunately, there is not enough money to be able to pay for all our infrastructure needs of our country,” Chao said. “We are not pushing for toll roads. We are also not forbidding toll roads.”

More on highway tolling:

Trump ignites infrastructure debate despite concerns about funding for highways, railways and airports

‘Dynamic tolls’: How highways can charge $40 for driving just 10 miles

Growth in toll traffic outpaces regular roads

The 1956 Interstate Highway Act generally bans tolling on interstates. Exceptions existed when the law went into effect for already established highways, such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the Kansas Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, to avoid building parallel roads along major routes.

Since then, Congress has experimented with interstate tolls to rebuild a bridge or tunnel and with congestion tolling based on traffic and time of day.

But removing the federal prohibition on tolling interstates would give states an option to adopt the funding stream, which could then be used to finance construction bonds.

About 3,000 miles of interstate highways are tolled out of a 46,000-mile network, according to Jones.

“We recognize that not everyone is going to want to do tolling,” Jones said.

Trump told a White House gathering of governors, county executives and mayors Monday that highways need major improvements because truckers damage their vehicles driving from Los Angeles to New York.

“We're going to get the roads in great shape,” Trump said.

But American Trucking Associations CEO Chris Spear said tolls are ineffective and wasteful and too much is spent on overhead costs.

“To be clear, new tolling on existing interstates is a non-starter for our industry," said Spear, who otherwise welcomed Trump kickstarting the debate on infrastructure.

Henry Cisneros, a former secretary of Housing and Urban Development who is now a partner in an infrastructure-finance firm, said the country can’t put tolls on 60,000 deteriorating bridges nationwide.

But he said tolls — such as airport fees or payments of shipping companies into ports or water rates — could attract private investment that doesn’t support construction projects now.

“I want to be positive because it’s so needed for this country, and the last thing we want to do is see it die on the operating table of negativism," Cisneros said.