What 2-di Interstates spend majority of their route tolled?

[OCGuy81]

Looking at an atlas, I was thinking how I-90 is pretty much tolled from the Illinois state line until it reaches Boston (with a few free stretches).  Roughly 800 miles of tollway.  However, as I-90 is 3099 miles, that's only about 25 percent of its route that's tolled.

The eastern I-76 seems to be tolled for majority of its route.  It might have the highest percentage of tolled vs free portions.

Any other 2-di routes that spend majority of their "life" tolled??  Figured they'd mostly be out east.

[dcharlie]

I-88 in Illinois.  That doesn't count the New York section.

[Brandon]

I-88 in Illinois.  That doesn't count the New York section.

That is non-toll from MP 0 to MP 44, then toll from MP 44 to MP 140.
Non-Toll: 44 miles
Toll: 96 miles
Toll % = 68.6%

[briantroutman]

The two that have been mentioned (I-76 OH/PA/NJ and I-88 IL) are the only two-digit Interstates I can think of that are tolled for the majority of their length.

I-44 might be close, as it traverses approximately 328 mostly tolled miles in Oklahoma vs. roughly 308 free miles in Texas and Missouri. However when you subtract the free mileage in Lawton, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa, my guess is that it would come up just shy of 50%.

A number of 3DIs are tolled for the majority of their length, but that's not what we're looking for.

Separately, if we looked at this on a cost per mile basis, I wonder where I-95 would register on the list. Though it's not a traditional closed-ticket toll road for much of its length, the route is beset with tolls from the Maine Turnpike, tolls through metro NYC, the NJ Turnpike, and barrier tolls through DE and MD down to the tunnel in Baltimore.

[OCGuy81]

What about I-87?  Just looking at a map, maybe about half it's length is tolled until it gets north of Albany?

[Chris19001]

What about I-87?  Just looking at a map, maybe about half it's length is tolled until it gets north of Albany?

If memory serves me right, there's a commercial vehicle toll plaza somewhere a few miles west of the Tappan Zee too.  Not sure how to account for that..

[kphoger]

I-44 might be close, as it traverses approximately 328 mostly tolled miles in Oklahoma vs. roughly 308 free miles in Texas and Missouri. However when you subtract the free mileage in Lawton, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa, my guess is that it would come up just shy of 50%.

I was curious to know the numbers, and it turns out it doesn't even approach 50%.  By my count, I-44 is approximately 40% tolled, with a difference between toll and free of about 130 miles.  In fact, the total Oklahoma turnpike mileage is about 40 miles shy of the Missouri mileage (which is all free).

[vdeane]

I-87 is 38% tolled; I averaged the distance for the Tappan Zee and Spring Valley tolled sections as each is one direction (note that cars with trailers also pay a toll).  If we count them both in full, it's 39.4%.

Sections counted as tolled:
-Exits 6-7A, 4.9 miles, both directions
-Exits 9-11, 4.9 miles, SB only*
-Exits 14A-14B, 4.1 miles, NB only (class 2L exempt)*
-Exit 15A-Exit 1E (end I-90 overlap), 117.5 miles, both directions
Total length: 333.6 miles
*4.5 miles total if averaged together

[roadman]

Separately, if we looked at this on a cost per mile basis, I wonder where I-95 would register on the list. Though it’s not a traditional closed-ticket toll road for much of its length, the route is beset with tolls from the Maine Turnpike, tolls through metro NYC, the NJ Turnpike, and barrier tolls through DE and MD down to the tunnel in Baltimore.

Don't forget New Hampshire.

[CtrlAltDel]

Separately, if we looked at this on a cost per mile basis, I wonder where I-95 would register on the list. Though it’s not a traditional closed-ticket toll road for much of its length, the route is beset with tolls from the Maine Turnpike, tolls through metro NYC, the NJ Turnpike, and barrier tolls through DE and MD down to the tunnel in Baltimore.

Well, I didn’t have time to calculate things for all of the Intestates, but I did do the (ones that I consider to be the) major routes. I may have missed something, but I did make every effort to be thorough.

The following are the tolls paid to clinch each route from start to finish in one fell swoop, traveling in a normal passenger vehicle, paying cash, or in the case of all electronic tolling, the pay-by-plate option that does not require any preregistration. Any optional tolls for express lanes and the like are not included. If a toll is charged in only one direction, that amount is halved in the chart below. The total toll is then divided by the total length of the route, resulting in the cents per mile shown.

As you can see, I-90 and I-95 have, by far, the highest tolls of the routes, and thus the highest averages. Clearly, none of these routes are going to “win” the contest of highest tolls per mile overall, since vast swathes of all of them are untolled, but I thought this information was worth sharing.

Code Select Expand

I-10   $ 0.00   2,460   0.0¢
I-20   $ 0.00   1,540   0.0¢
I-40   $ 0.00   2,555   0.0¢
I-70   $15.10   2,153   0.7¢
I-80   $33.15   2,900   1.1¢
I-90   $61.95   3,020   2.1¢

I-95   $42.73   1,926   2.2¢
I-75   $ 9.50   1,786   0.5¢
I-65   $ 4.00     887   0.5¢
I-55   $ 0.00     964   0.0¢
I-35   $ 7.50   1,696   0.4¢
I-25   $ 0.00   1,063   0.0¢
I-15   $ 0.00   1,434   0.0¢
I- 5   $ 0.00   1,381   0.0¢

[froggie]

I-95 may have lots of tolls in the Northeast, but it has over 1,100 miles from Miami before you're required to pay any of them...that certainly puts its percentage below 50%.  And that's before you factor the toll-free segments through PA (currently), CT, RI, MA, and north of Augusta, ME.

[jeffandnicole]

I-95 may have lots of tolls in the Northeast, but it has over 1,100 miles from Miami before you're required to pay any of them...that certainly puts its percentage below 50%.  And that's before you factor the toll-free segments through PA (currently), CT, RI, MA, and north of Augusta, ME.

And technically, 95 North thru PA will remain toll free.  Only 95 South will be tolled.

[OCGuy81]

Separately, if we looked at this on a cost per mile basis, I wonder where I-95 would register on the list. Though it's not a traditional closed-ticket toll road for much of its length, the route is beset with tolls from the Maine Turnpike, tolls through metro NYC, the NJ Turnpike, and barrier tolls through DE and MD down to the tunnel in Baltimore.

Well, I didn't have time to calculate things for all of the Intestates, but I did do the (ones that I consider to be the) major routes. I may have missed something, but I did make every effort to be thorough.

The following are the tolls paid to clinch each route from start to finish in one fell swoop, traveling in a normal passenger vehicle, paying cash, or in the case of all electronic tolling, the pay-by-plate option that does not require any preregistration. Any optional tolls for express lanes and the like are not included. If a toll is charged in only one direction, that amount is halved in the chart below. The total toll is then divided by the total length of the route, resulting in the cents per mile shown.

As you can see, I-90 and I-95 have, by far, the highest tolls of the routes, and thus the highest averages. Clearly, none of these routes are going to "win"  the contest of highest tolls per mile overall, since vast swathes of all of them are untolled, but I thought this information was worth sharing.

Code Select Expand

I-10   $ 0.00   2,460   0.0¢
I-20   $ 0.00   1,540   0.0¢
I-40   $ 0.00   2,555   0.0¢
I-70   $15.10   2,153   0.7¢
I-80   $33.15   2,900   1.1¢
I-90   $61.95   3,020   2.1¢

I-95   $42.73   1,926   2.2¢
I-75   $ 9.50   1,786   0.5¢
I-65   $ 4.00     887   0.5¢
I-55   $ 0.00     964   0.0¢
I-35   $ 7.50   1,696   0.4¢
I-25   $ 0.00   1,063   0.0¢
I-15   $ 0.00   1,434   0.0¢
I- 5   $ 0.00   1,381   0.0¢

Great information!  Thank you for sharing this!

[CtrlAltDel]

Great information!  Thank you for sharing this!

Glad to be helpful. What surprised me is that I-95 nudges out I-90 in terms of average toll per mile. The tolled portion of I-90 stretches pretty far, but the tolls on I-95 are just that much higher, especially the NJ Turnpike and the GW Bridge.