The Illinois Tollway Authority is reminding truck drivers with two-axle and three-axle trailers that tolls rates will be increasing on January 1, 2015.
The extra revenue will go to “rebuild, improve and expand the agency’s 286-mile system of toll roads to make travel easier and more efficient,” the Tollway Authority states.
The increase was approved in 2008 to fund the Authority’s Congestion-Relief Program. This will be the first toll increase since 2005.
Toll rates for trucks will increase 40% on January 1, 2015 and will increase an additional 10% in 2016 and 2017. Those who use the Tollway overnight, from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., will receive a 25% discount.
Trucks will pay an average of $.44 per mile in 2015 on the Tollway.
Toll rates will remain the same for cars and motorcycles.
The Tollways Authority says trucks count for 11% of Tollway traffic. The Tollway Authority states that the increase for trucks, and not for cars, is because “their weight causes more damage to roads, ultimately impacting agency maintenance costs. A fully loaded truck weighs up to 80,000 pounds and causes as much damage as 10,000 cars. The average truck travelling on the Illinois Tollway is not always full, resulting in damage that more typically equates to 4,000 cars.”
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