About Tolls...

With cash-strapped governments, tolls are increasingly being used around the country to help build new infrastructure. As opposed to a tax, tolling is structured so that those who use and benefit from the new infrastructure help to pay for it.

Building the bridges will require tolling as part of the funding mix, in addition to state and federal funding. Here’s why:

The federal government no longer is able to fund highway projects under the old 80/20 model where the Highway Trust Fund covered 80% of projects when local governments committed 20%.
The Highway Trust Fund continues to decline as people purchase less gas as result of increasing gas prices and more fuel efficient vehicles.
There is no political interest to increase the federal gas tax that feeds the Highway Trust Fund. The tax has not been increased since 1993.
Most major highway infrastructure projects today are being built by including tolling.

The Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority is developing a finance plan and tolling policy that is “fair, sound and doable,” by:

Maximizing federal and state funding to reduce the amount to be covered by tolls. Any reductions in the cost of the project go toward reducing the funding gap required to be covered by tolls.
Speeding construction timetables, because every month of delay adds $10 million to the project’s price tag. Conversely, speeding construction by a month saves $10 million.
Looking at reduced toll rates for local commuters who would use the bridges most often. It has set a target of $1 toll for frequent, local commuters, with out-of-town pass-through traffic paying more.
Any tolling would be collected via high-speed, electronic tolling (using transponders or license plate photography as opposed to toll booths that slow traffic)
Tolling would not begin until a new bridge is open and motorists are using it and the region has already experienced years of economic gain from a major boost in construction activity

Tolls are not new to Louisville. The Clark Memorial Bridge, was tolled from 1929 to 1946 when the construction bonds were paid. The initial toll was 35 cents, which equates to about $4.50 in today’s dollars.

Read The Benefits page to learn why paying a toll is worth the investment in our community.