Financing Interstate reconstruction and modernization with tolls is the best way to improve infrastructure investments, Robert Poole, director of transportation policy and Searle Freedom Trust Transportation Fellow at Reason Foundation, said.
States need to transition from a per-gallon fuel tax to a per-mile highway user charge, according to a recent Reason Foundation study.
Connecticut, Wisconsin and Indiana have also conducted studies on tolls, and Virginia, Alabama and Louisiana are debating whether to use toll revenue to fund infrastructure improvements.
Rhode Island is currently replacing 150 deficient bridges using tolls from heavy trucks.
Transportation experts have suggested Congress establish a voluntary program states can opt into as part of the 2020 surface transportation reauthorization law.
Participating states would commit to using toll revenue only for the construction, operating and maintenance costs of their Interstate highways.
States would be required to agree to configure their tolls as electronic per-mile charges designed to be the first step toward replacing per-gallon taxes with per-mile charges. This would be in exchange for being exempted from the 1956 ban on tolling and commercial rest areas.
The program would require tolls be charged on all vehicles and that in-state and out-of-state vehicles be charged at the same rate.