Are Toll Facility Travelers Aware of Their Toll?

Abstract

In 2022, the North Central Texas Council of Governments in the U.S. conducted a survey to explore the social equity and travel behavior of Texas residents who used one of six limited access facilities in the Dallas-Fort Worth region: two toll roads, two managed lanes (MLs), and two general purpose lanes. Driver characteristics and trip information were collected, including trip purpose and toll awareness. Surprisingly, 82% of the toll facility users did not know how much they paid in tolls for their trips. The median willingness to pay (WTP) of ML drivers who knew the toll amount was much higher than that of drivers who did not know their toll amount. This study employed a binary choice model to examine toll awareness and toll facility use. It was found that travelers’ awareness of tolls differed by many trip characteristics such as toll price, toll discount, owning a toll tag (prepaid payment), travel time, and trip purpose. Lower toll prices and employers who subsidized the toll payment led to lower likelihood of being toll-aware. Conversely, possessing a toll tag and shorter travel time increased the likelihood of being toll-aware. Travelers taking home-based work trips were more likely to know their toll, highlighting the habitual nature of these trips and the significance of route planning in commuter behavior.