FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Michigan Tolling Feasibility Analysis and Implementation Plan
The Michigan Statewide Tolling Feasibility Analysis Report included studying tolling on all 1,922 miles of 31 limited-access highways in Michigan and included a screening process to determine appropriate corridors for a more detailed study in the Strategic Implementation Plan.
The Feasibility Analysis resulted in a 1,156-mile feasible and financially viable. Nearly 550 miles were determined to be viable for near-term implementation and were analyzed in more detail in the Strategic Implementation Plan. The nearly 550 miles are made up of parts or all of I-69, I-75, I-94, I-196, I-275, I-696, and M-14.
As analyzed in the Strategic Implementation Plan, a new statewide tolling program in Michigan could generate enough revenue to fully fund the life-cycle costs of the nearly 550 miles of tolled roadways but would require a careful approach to implementation.
The toll revenue would be used to fully fund the road, bridge, toll collection system, and administrative costs associated with the highways being studied. The toll system roads and bridges would be initially improved to meet or exceed road and bridge condition performance standards before tolling was implemented using revenue from toll bond financing. The roads and bridges would continue to be maintained to meet or exceed performance standards for the full 40-year tolling life cycle analyzed using toll revenue.
The tolling study looked at three different toll rates in the Feasibility Report, including 4-cent, 6-cent, and 8-cent toll rate scenarios for passenger cars. The 6-cent scenario was the most feasible for balancing revenue and diversion and was used in the Strategic Implementation Plan Analysis. Toll rates were assumed to increase annually at the pace of inflation, like how fuel taxes currently increase annually based on inflation in Michigan.
No, the study only assessed All Electronic Tolling (AET) technology which inherently collects tolls at highway speeds through the use of transponders. This would require installation of gantries on the highway but would not require stopping or paying at a toll booth. Most large toll road systems around the country have already converted to AET or are planning to do so in the future. This video, from the I-65 toll bridge over the Ohio River between Indiana and Kentucky, shows how AET equipment works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCRO5PVmxvs&t=8s. The image below shows a conceptual image of a set of AET toll gantries in Michigan.
Payment would be collected through a transponder device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. In tolling, a transponder is the electrical device in a toll pass that triggers payment of the toll while the vehicle maintains roadway speed. A transponder is obtained upon enrolling in a toll payment program and is most commonly attached to the windshield of the vehicle. Vehicles that do not have a transponder would have a bill mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle through a process called video tolling. Video tolling uses cameras to capture license plate information for those vehicles that do not have a transponder.
Payment would be collected through a transponder device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. In tolling, a transponder is the electrical device in a toll pass that triggers payment of the toll while the vehicle maintains roadway speed. A transponder is obtained upon enrolling in a toll payment program and is most commonly attached to the windshield of the vehicle. Vehicles that do not have a transponder would have a bill mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle through a process called video tolling. Video tolling uses cameras to capture license plate information for those vehicles that do not have a transponder.
The State of Michigan Tolling Study Feasibility Analysis Report and Strategic Implementation Plan were prepared for the Michigan Governor and Legislature. The study was delivered to the Michigan Governor and Legislature for review. To implement the findings of the study and collect tolls on roads and bridges in the State of Michigan, the Legislature would need to adopt legislation that would enable toll collection. Once legislative approvals are received, the act of tolling roads and bridges in Michigan would take four to five years. Tolling is only one option to get to the goal of stable transportation revenue. The results of this study should be considered along with other transportation funding options.
The framework to consider equity in transportation project development includes three elements: benefits, burdens, and engagement. For a tolling project, benefits could include things such as mobility improvements that tolling can fund. On the other hand, burdens could include things such as the cost of tolls themselves, or the potential traffic diversion through communities of concern. The study team reviewed equity discounts and programs to offer qualified low-income users a certain number of free or reduced cost tolls and/or free or reduced cost account or transponder fees. The Strategic Implementation Plan outlined a recommendation for Michigan that would:
- Establish a Toll Discount, Mitigation, and Benefit Program Advisory Committee.
- Provide 100 percent discount to low-income users.
- Set aside one percent of gross toll revenue for local community transportation mitigations.
- Set aside 0.5 percent of gross toll revenue for local community non-transportation benefits.
The timeline from the Strategic Implementation Plan is located on the home page (click here to view it). As shown, the act of tolling would require legislative approval.
The legislation laid out in Public Act 140 of 2020 and Public Act 73 of 2022 specified studying a system or network of highways that could be feasible for tolling from a social, technical, and financial standpoint. From a financial standpoint, the study looked for a system or network of roads that could be self-sustaining, meaning the tolls collected on those roads would pay for the lifecycle costs of those roads.
These are summarized on the home page, and are further detailed in the Strategic Implementation Plan Report.
Basic Tolling
A toll is a fee charged for using a particular roadway, bridge, or tunnel that is designated to have a toll.
Toll revenue is the sum of the collected fees of those who use a tolled infrastructure.
A study conducted to review the possibility of state-sponsored tolling facilities. Michigan P.A. 140 of 2020 and P.A. 73 of 2022 required MDOT to engage an outside consulting firm to conduct a tolling feasibility analysis and strategic implementation plan. Working with HNTB and CDM Smith, MDOT is conducting the Michigan Tolling Study.
Transportation infrastructure is vital to Michigan's economy and our way of life, and the costs to improve and maintain existing assets has outpaced available funding. The increase in vehicle fuel efficiency and emergence of electric vehicles (EV) present additional future stability challenges to the continued use of motor-fuel based transportation funding sources. Tolling charges user fees based on vehicle type, not fuel type.
Every road needs maintenance and eventual rebuilding, and that costs money. No road is ever fully paid for. A road, just like your home, requires ongoing upkeep and maintenance. With concern about the future viability of current funding due to increasing vehicle fuel efficiency and electric vehicles, tolls may provide a more stable source of revenue for ongoing road maintenance and improvement in certain situations.
Every road needs maintenance and eventual rebuilding, and that costs money. No road is ever fully paid for. A road, just like your home, requires ongoing upkeep and maintenance. With concern about the future viability of current funding due to increasing vehicle fuel efficiency and electric vehicles, tolls may provide a more stable source of revenue for ongoing road maintenance and improvement in certain situations.
The federal motor fuel tax as a funding source for transportation was last raised in 1993 and no longer yields sufficient revenue. Additionally, as more vehicles become efficient or electric — and no longer contribute to the federal motor fuel tax — funding will continue to diminish.
There are express lanes or all-electronic toll (AET) systems in more than half of the United States. Examples near Michigan include Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. Ohio collects toll revenue, but not through an AET system.
Most of the 62 U.S. toll agency members of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) receive no federal or state funds to support their day-to-day operations. Yet, on an annual basis, they generate more than $14 billion in toll revenue. That is equal to nearly one-third of the federal motor fuel tax revenues collected each year. Without those toll revenues, states would have to go without the vital road, bridge and tunnel infrastructures that those tolls support, including some of the most heavily traveled highways, bridges and tunnels in the country.
No, Michigan currently has no toll roads. But tolls are collected in Michigan at the Blue Water Bridge, Grosse Ile Toll Bridge*, International Bridge, Mackinac Bridge, Detroit-Windsor Tunnel*, and Ambassador Bridge*. As of January 2023, two bridges in Bay City and the Gordie Howe International Bridge are also approved to start tolling within the next few years. The Bay City bridges will utilize high speed All-Electronic Tolling (AET) when they open. AET is an important part of the Michigan Tolling Study.
*Privately owned and/or operated.
Yes, the use of non-toll roads is called diversion. The highways included in the Strategic Implementation Plan analysis were estimated to have average diversions of about ten percent after tolling. Some diverted traffic could travel through local neighborhoods, but most diverted traffic would travel on higher speed non-toll roads rather than traveling through lower-speed neighborhoods.
A transponder, generally, is a device that, upon receiving a signal, emits a different signal in response. In tolling, a transponder is the electrical device in a toll pass that triggers payment of the toll while the vehicle maintains roadway speed. A transponder is obtained upon enrolling in a toll payment program and is most commonly attached to the windshield of the vehicle. Transponders are already in use in Michigan. For example, the MacPass transponder, which is shown below on a windshield, can be used for traveling over the Mackinac Bridge. The Michigan Tolling Study recommends that drivers that do not have a transponder would have a bill mailed to them with their toll charges through a process called video tolling. Any new toll roads would utilize with payment using either transponders or video tolling.
Interoperability is the ability of a transponder to respond to other compatible toll systems. With interoperability, drivers with transponders from other states could use their transponders on Michigan toll roads and drivers with Michigan toll road-based transponders could use them on toll roads in other states.
The most common current technology to pay tolls is by adding a transponder to a vehicle's windshield. Please also refer to the “What's a transponder?” question.
The scope of this study is defined by Public Act 140 of 2020 and Public Act 73 of 2022, which require a study of tolling highways in Michigan under current federal regulations. Evaluating other revenue generation models is beyond the scope of the legislation. It is recommended that the results of the Michigan Toll Study be considered in context of other transportation revenue options.
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