TxDOT could bump tolls to improve roads

N. Texas could feel effect if state heeds
audit's call for more, higher fees

July 18, 2007

By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN – Texas needs more toll roads, and drivers should pay more to use them, an external audit of the Texas Department of Transportation suggested Wednesday.

Sharply increased highway construction costs and cars that use less gas are two factors among several that mean the traditional means of paying for roads – the 20-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax – is no longer sufficient, the auditors said.

Therefore, more toll roads with higher fees have become the state's best hope for keeping up with demand for new or improved roads, said consultant Peter Mills of Washington state-based Dye Management Group Inc.

"Right now, toll rates are set at the lowest possible level, just enough to capture the costs of the roads themselves," Mr. Mills said. "We believe they should be priced to reflect the value – including the time saved – they bring to the drivers who use them."

Those recommendations and others were revealed Wednesday during a special meeting of the Texas Transportation Commission.

The comprehensive audits are required by law as a prelude to the top-to-bottom assessment of the agency, known as a sunset review. Every agency undergoes such a review every 12 years. TxDOT will be under scrutiny between now and the next regular session of the Texas Legislature in 2009.

Motorists probably will pay much more to drive in North Texas if the consultants' more aggressive pricing philosophy is adopted.

Mr. Mills told commissioners that the North Texas Tollway Authority, for instance, typically has set rates at about 10 cents a mile. The toll roads actually are worth about 16 cents a mile to motorists who use them, he said, adding that therefore the tolls should be set at that level.

The 16-cents-a-mile scenario would mean that the toll on the Bush Turnpike between U.S. Highway 75 and Interstate 35E would jump from the current $1.50 to $2.40, NTTA spokesman Sam Lopez said.

Commissioner Ted Houghton of El Paso expressed support for the higher rates, saying that tolls that cover only construction and operating costs should be increased to produce profits that could help finance other badly needed roads.

"They're basically being subsidized," especially since TxDOT often provides some funds to help bring down the cost of building the roads, Mr. Houghton said during the meeting.

Higher rates already are on the way with some new toll roads. For example, tolls on State Highway 121 in Collin and Denton counties are expected to be set at 14 cents a mile.

Mr. Mills also suggested commissioners and lawmakers explore possible compromises over whether toll roads should be built and operated by public or private entities.

Toll projects are cheaper, according to the audit, when equity is used to reduce the amount of debt used to finance the roads. But that equity can come from public sources just as easily as from private investors, he said.

Mr. Mills urged the commission to work with lawmakers to create a public corporation that could compete to invest public dollars as equity in toll projects. The public company could be funded by TxDOT itself or by other sources, such as the Texas teachers' retirement fund, he said.

Commission Chairman Ric Williamson said he and others have been lobbying for support to do just that, but have so far found few takers in the Legislature.