The State of Texas overall has 25 toll roads within its borders.
Did you know that these toll roads are operated by different tolling authorities because there are around 20 different tolling agencies in the state including TXDOT itself and excluding the Public Private Partnerships we have with companies like Cintra.
With this amount of toll roads I wanted to start this chat, does anyone think that we should centralize the toll roads into one authority?
Probably. At the very least, their transponders should all be combined - from what I've read, interoperability between other states and Texas is currently a nightmare because of that.
Quote from: vdeane on December 24, 2018, 03:02:37 PM
Probably. At the very least, their transponders should all be combined - from what I've read, interoperability between other states and Texas is currently a nightmare because of that.
We did use to have a Texas Turnpike Authority but was turned into the North Texas Tollway Authority. The NTTA is classified as a State agency but it only operates in certain counties which are Dallas, Tarrant, Johnson, Collin, and Denton Counties.
TXDOT has the Toll Operation Division in Austin that deals statewide with Toll Projects that are more statewide like Toll 45 or manage lanes in Dallas. But I always wanted all of the Toll Roads not to be run by TXDOT and just another agency for that.
It used to be a lot worse as a lot of the Toll Tags before hand where not going to work in other parts of the State. But after the state passed laws changing that, it doesn't matter what toll roads you got on. It didn't matter until the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority then came to the NTTA and made a deal which allowed NTTA toll tags become comparable in Oklahoma. This made the NTTA's toll tag the most powerful in the state for a few years until thew Federal Government finally stepped in 2012 and passed MAP-21 which forced states next to each other to make toll tags compatible. I didn't find out about that law until I was driving on the Kansas Turnpike and the Ticket Machine wasn't working automatically like it was so I got a Ticket anyway and when I got to Topeka to get of the Turnpike, the guy taking my money told me that my Toll Tag now works there, So I was happy about that and I moved on with my trip.
Maybe, as long as they don't try to pool revenues like Maryland and Oklahoma do. Because there are several toll roads in Texas that generate a lot LESS money than the others (more money drainers than Oklahoma I believe). It would be nice to use the same transponders on all of them like vdeane said though.
Quote from: Guysdrive780 on December 24, 2018, 03:22:39 PM
Quote from: vdeane on December 24, 2018, 03:02:37 PM
Probably. At the very least, their transponders should all be combined - from what I've read, interoperability between other states and Texas is currently a nightmare because of that.
We did use to have a Texas Turnpike Authority but was turned into the North Texas Tollway Authority. The NTTA is classified as a State agency but it only operates in certain counties which are Dallas, Tarrant, Johnson, Collin, and Denton Counties.
TXDOT has the Toll Operation Division in Austin that deals statewide with Toll Projects that are more statewide like Toll 45 or manage lanes in Dallas. But I always wanted all of the Toll Roads not to be run by TXDOT and just another agency for that.
It used to be a lot worse as a lot of the Toll Tags before hand where not going to work in other parts of the State. But after the state passed laws changing that, it doesn't matter what toll roads you got on. It didn't matter until the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority then came to the NTTA and made a deal which allowed NTTA toll tags become comparable in Oklahoma. This made the NTTA's toll tag the most powerful in the state for a few years until thew Federal Government finally stepped in 2012 and passed MAP-21 which forced states next to each other to make toll tags compatible. I didn't find out about that law until I was driving on the Kansas Turnpike and the Ticket Machine wasn't working automatically like it was so I got a Ticket anyway and when I got to Topeka to get of the Turnpike, the guy taking my money told me that my Toll Tag now works there, So I was happy about that and I moved on with my trip.
To clarify, NTTA is not a state agency. It's a political subdivision. NTTA, which is a regional tollway authority, and each regional mobility authority, is defined by law as "a body politic and corporate and a political subdivision of this state." The regional authorities are political subdivisions, because they may not be entirely inside another political subdivision, such as a county, which could assume control of it. As political subdivisions, they have their own governing bodies that have authority over the entire system. The Toll Operations Division is a division of TxDOT, which is a state agency, and the county toll road authorities are county agencies.
At the very least, one transponder that is OTA & EZ Pass compatible.
I don't think I can think of any other state like Texas as we do it so differently here. Did you know that the Collin County Toll Road Authority Exist? They won't collect tolls until they build the outer loop which is kind of in limbo right now. But they will use the same system That the NTTA uses. But honestly I rather have a unified agency take the reign. I can understand that money could go back into paying the local road funds but I still want to pay one agency and not a bunch with different rules.
I agree that it would be nice to have a single system with a single set of rules. Are non-tag users allowed? Is cash accepted? Are tags from other states accepted? Every toll road in the state should have the same answers.
However, there are reasons we ended up with all these different authorities. Houston wanted more toll roads than the statewide agency wanted to build. Later, Dallas didn't want the toll money they were paying to disappear into a black hole in Austin. I don't know how to address these issues, especially in such a large state with regional toll roads in disjointed areas and not the traditional cross-state turnpikes. Our toll system focuses on charging locals much more often than travelers. That's why we got to pay-by-mail so easily, since so few of the users are from other states. Maybe it makes sense to keep control and the money under local or regional authorities.
Maybe NTTA should become NTRMA and the regional tollway authority model abandoned. Regional mobility authorities are able to do other things besides building toll roads (although they tend to favor toll roads since they pay for themselves and the authorities have no taxing power). NTTA should be granted those additional powers and the state should have a single type of regional toll authority instead of a single one of the first type and all the others as the second type. This wouldn't change the number of authorities and the overlap between them, but it would make the system simpler and enable NTTA to help the DFW area in additional ways.
Of course I really think the best system would eliminate the tolls and the redundant layers of government agencies and instead use a proper tax funding mechanism that actually works. I don't understand this idea that the fuel tax no longer works because the rates haven't been increased in decades. We'd rather impose a whole new type of tax at extra-high rates on a few roads instead of just raising the tax to a level that works. That's like throwing away a car that won't start because it's out of gas and buying a new one instead of just filling the tank.
Quote from: wxfree on December 25, 2018, 08:36:00 PMOf course I really think the best system would eliminate the tolls and the redundant layers of government agencies and instead use a proper tax funding mechanism that actually works. I don't understand this idea that the fuel tax no longer works because the rates haven't been increased in decades. We'd rather impose a whole new type of tax at extra-high rates on a few roads instead of just raising the tax to a level that works. That's like throwing away a car that won't start because it's out of gas and buying a new one instead of just filling the tank.
I can explain why we have them in the first place. More people are buying more fuel efficient cars now days and there are a lot less people and the amount of them is increasing. The gas tax hasn't increased nor decreased and because of inflation, our amount of revenue has decreased and its only going to go down in the future.
If TXDOT builds roads, It needs funding and our primary source of funding is the fuel tax but we are a lot slower at building projects because we need to wait and raise the funding to build the road in the first place. Therefore, our process may take 10 to 30 years to get the project off of the ground.
With the NTTA though, They can do a lot more projects a lot more quickly than TXDOT does. The NTTA could just take out a loan and then build the road. Then toll people and easily get it's money back. I worked with someone that didn't like Toll roads but understood the purpose of the NTTA as they do on average get a lot more projects done then TXDOT can in the same amount of time. in Tyler, TX, the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NETRMA) wanted another outer loop around Tyler. But TXDOT didn't have the money to build that themselves, so the NETRMA built what is now Toll 49 themselfs which is open today and operating.
Toll roads just get built faster and in a growing state like Texas, Its crucial that we keep accommodating for future growth.
I have no problem with things like local governments borrowing money to build schools, water lines, and roads to accommodate an increasing population and then paying it back as the tax base and user fee base grow. That makes sense to me. On the other hand, saying that the fuel tax doesn't work because the rate is too low is what I compare to replacing a perfectly good car because it's out of gas instead of just filling the tank. Maybe it's a good idea to borrow money to build roads and pay it back as tax revenues increase with increasing traffic (and the fuel tax rates keep up with changes). This may be especially true if construction inflation is higher than the rate of interest. However, with a statewide system maybe you can raise the revenue needed to expand the system as needed without borrowing money while taxing at a reasonable rate. We have seen that happen. There is nothing inherent in the fuel tax that says it can't be increased or that means a tax-funded road can't be funded until decades after it's needed. A government agency should always be struggling for revenue because it incentivizes efficiency, and if it's overwhelmed with money that probably means they're overtaxing the people. But there's no rule that says an agency must be funded at a level that doesn't enable it to do its job. These are policy decisions that are treated like unsolvable problems.
I think combining the toll road authorities is a no-brainer when it comes to increasing efficiency. There's no need to have so many different offices handling toll revenue and administration, and if all of the authorities adopted a uniform transponder system it would provide benefits to the traveling public.
If there is an objection of toll road dollars from one metro being spent elsewhere, it is possible to structure the combined authority into several regions, each of which can only spend money collected from that region. Although this would lead to waste when the money has the cash on hand to build a necessary project, but must issue bonds anyway (and pay interest) because the cash is from the wrong region.
Quote from: plain on December 24, 2018, 04:09:17 PM
Maybe, as long as they don't try to pool revenues like Maryland and Oklahoma do. Because there are several toll roads in Texas that generate a lot LESS money than the others (more money drainers than Oklahoma I believe).
Oklahoma has found cross-pledging (using money from one turnpike to fund another) useful to build toll projects that would not be feasible to stand alone, but which would be too expensive to build as free roads. The archetypical example is the Cherokee Turnpike, which bypassed an old segment of SH-33. Old 33 was dangerous for the amount of traffic it carried due to the hilly topography it crossed, which caused it to have been built with lots of curves. Bypassing the route with a straighter one was expensive because of the same topography. OTA was able to step in and build a turnpike, which doesn't pay for itself financially, but got the job done of making travel in the area safer.
Quote from: Guysdrive780 on December 25, 2018, 02:01:17 PM
I don't think I can think of any other state like Texas as we do it so differently here. Did you know that the Collin County Toll Road Authority Exist? They won't collect tolls until they build the outer loop which is kind of in limbo right now. But they will use the same system That the NTTA uses. But honestly I rather have a unified agency take the reign. I can understand that money could go back into paying the local road funds but I still want to pay one agency and not a bunch with different rules.
Florida does have a good number of tolling agencies, along with a few different agencys issuing their own transponders, although all transponders are compatible within the state (which I guess is not the case in Texas?)
We got Florida Turnpike Enterprise, Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, Tampa Expressway Authority (all using SunPass), Lee County Express Authority (issuing LeeWay), Central Florida Expressway Authority (which used to be separated between Orlando and Osceola County, both with their own seperate passes, but E-Pass took over the O-Pass in the merger). There is separate interopability agreements for out of state use (LeeWay works with SC's system, and E-Pass accepts EZ Pass and offers E Pass Xtra that adds EZ Pass compatibility).
Quote from: Guysdrive780 on December 25, 2018, 08:59:07 PM
The NTTA could just take out a loan and then ... easily get it's money back
Actual results may vary.
Quote from: kphoger on December 28, 2018, 02:24:28 PM
Quote from: Guysdrive780 on December 25, 2018, 08:59:07 PM
The NTTA could just take out a loan and then ... easily get it's money back
Actual results may vary.
Ah, love me dem toll road bonds! Unfortunately, so does everyone else who buys Municipal Bonds and they're snapped up as soon as they hit the counter.
My understanding has been that all of the transponders in current use in Texas (TollTag, EZ Tag, and TxTag) are interoperable with each other. They are certainly interoperable with K-Tag per the KS/OK/TX interoperability agreement. I have never understood why PikePass has continued to be interoperable with TollTag only for so long, because OTA is also a signatory to that agreement.
As for merging toll agencies in Texas, I don't see that working. There are at least four (historically at least five) different types of tolling entities in Texas, including at least one not already mentioned:
* Regional toll authorities (e.g. NTTA)
* County toll authorities (e.g. HCTRA, Collin County Toll Road Authority)
* Regional mobility authorities (e.g. CTRMA, CCRMA)
* Tolling districts (e.g., the agency that oversees the Sabine Pass toll bridge)
* Private toll roads (e.g., the now-defunct Camino Colombia Toll Road)
With multiple examples in each category, that is a hell of a lot of fiefdoms, each of which will bitterly resist any pooling of funding or liabilities that it does not see as working in its own parochial interest. And, as Wxfree points out, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the fuel tax as the mainstay for highway finance. The vast bulk of vehicles on the road still burn liquid hydrocarbon fuels, even if efficiency has improved, and it makes sense to adjust the marginal tax rates since the decline in purchasing power due to inflation does not in any way track increases in VMT or fuel volume consumed. Over time I think Texas should progress toward using tolls not as a primary means of financing capital expansion but rather as a method for regulating traffic demand on congested urban freeways.
For the tolling entities in Texas, I would rather see unification of business processes to benefit toll road users and the contracting community. It would have the following elements:
* A common transponder platform (substantially accomplished already with interoperability), possibly with elimination of cash-only toll facilities (i.e., each toll entity would be required to offer a means of instantaneous payment via transponder, and possibly also pay-by-mail)
* A common sourcing platform for engineering and construction services that is fully accessible both to contractors and the general public (CivCastUSA.com largely fulfills this function for many RMAs and county toll authorities, but e.g. NTTA has its own sourcing platform)
I always thought that TXDOT should let go of its Toll Operations division and combine that with the NTTA and make the NTTA a statewide system like when the Texas Turnpike Authority Existed back when I-30 was built or I-20. I feel the state should have continued that
Quote from: Guysdrive780 on December 30, 2018, 01:42:51 PM
I always thought that TXDOT should let go of its Toll Operations division and combine that with the NTTA and make the NTTA a statewide system like when the Texas Turnpike Authority Existed back when I-30 was built or I-20. I feel the state should have continued that
The same problems would reappear. Initially, the Texas Turnpike Authority had projects in Houston and Dallas. Houston wanted more toll roads than TTA wanted to build, so they set up their own authority. Later, as the only place with state toll roads, Dallas didn't want toll money to disappear in Austin and got their regional authority. I think the problem is structural. Even after all the toll road development, the systems are still regional. As large a state as this is, the regions are a long way apart. Maybe a statewide authority makes more sense if a statewide toll road is the only project, or is the backbone of the system, or if some roads cross the state and others connect different regions. Since all of the roads are either in urban areas or are anchored around urban areas and don't connect different areas, regional control eliminates some problems. No one area is incentivized to pursue dominance over the whole system, or needs to convince the other areas to go along with their plans.
There should be a single set of rules regarding payment options and user restrictions. We are getting to statewide interstate tag interoperability, making all three brands usable in other states. Progress is being made, and other things could be improved, but I have doubts about whether a statewide administrative system would work well for a road system that isn't also statewide. This is particularly true given that this is a matter of control and money. Houston probably doesn't think that an appointee from San Angelo should have one-fifth of the voting power on a commission that determines how they build roads and use the money (or even Tyler, if they have to be from somewhere that has a toll road).
I think a statewide tolling authority could work if it were entirely facultative in character. One possible model is for the individual toll operators to retain control over their respective funding pots and projects, but to be required to hand over each toll project to the statewide authority to design, build, finance, and operate on a turnkey basis under the parameters of a project agreement that is similar in format and goes down to the same level of detail as a California freeway agreement. (It would have basically the same amount of geographical information as a TxDOT schematic, but also include verbiage specifying access points, utilities, mitigation, and the respective parties' responsibilities for each.)
It would still take an element of compulsion to institute such a system, however, because inevitably some tolling entities would think they could operate their facilities more efficiently than a statewide operator, notwithstanding the latter's ability to access greater economies of scale. Others might accept that efficiencies are at least conceptually achievable, but be wary of changing from being a large agency dealing with small consultants and contractors to being a (relatively) small agency dealing with a large agency.
What about a statewide payment system, since that is really the only contact people have with the toll authorities? There would be one set of rules regarding payment options, one mail payment system, and one tag system. The brand and logo on the tag don't matter, so you could get whichever you want, but the accounts would all be consolidated. Regarding things such as pre-payment amounts and low balance thresholds, there could be options, the way NTTA has, to replace the options the different authorities give. A single system would be inherently brought into interstate interoperability as a unit, and mail billing drivers would get one statewide bill. It would function as a statewide system as far as most drivers could tell, and regional branding and control would be unaffected.
There is a reason why TXDOT has separate Districts in every part of the state to work on that part of the state. If we rebuild the Texas Turnpike Authority, It wouldn't surprise me if we would do the same and separate it into different districts
At the very least consistency within a single metro area would be ideal. Let's face it, the 3 legs of the Texas triangle are spread more apart than cities in multiple states in other parts of the country.
I'm not sure of the other authorities, but HCTRA offers a convenient option of adding a temporary plate pass (for out of town visitors, parents, borrowed car, etc). However the feature doesn't work on Fort Bend or TXDOT tollroads, and caused us to rack up several violations. Also, imagine explaining to people unfamiliar with the area which roads to use or not to use.
It really is a hassle and is embarrassing to explain how to (or often not to) use our toll road systems to out of town guests. I'd like to believe our roads are superior to other states and take pride in them. But unfortunately the poor experience proves otherwise.
I guess from a local user perspective it means less vehicles (traffic) on the roads. But that's alot of revenue that could potentially be made by the toll authorities, which can translate into better roads, and (dare i say) less frequent increases in rates for us.
Pixel 3
The last time I checked the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority's PikePass tag does NOT work on all Texas toll roads...yet.
PikePass interoperability was first added with NTTA roads in the Dallas Fort Worth area. The PikePass would not work on any other toll roads elsewhere in Texas as well as not work on the toll road at DFW Airport.
Just this past November the OTA announced an agreement with Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority and Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority for the OTA PikePass to work on those roads. That still leaves other toll roads in Texas NOT compatible with PikePass. The OTA hopes to get more toll roads in the Austin and Houston areas covered by PikePass sometime in 2019.
Quote from: Bobby5280 on January 02, 2019, 09:00:43 PMJust this past November the OTA announced an agreement with Fort Bend County Toll Road Authority and Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority for the OTA PikePass to work on those roads. That still leaves other toll roads in Texas NOT compatible with PikePass. The OTA hopes to get more toll roads in the Austin and Houston areas covered by PikePass sometime in 2019.
You should be asking OTA some hard questions about why PikePass interoperability with Texas is so piecemeal. K-Tag became interoperable with all of the Texas transponders at the same time. The interoperability relationship actually works better for my K-Tag than reads on native infrastructure in Kansas. When I went to Dallas last October, the two PGBT tolls posted right away while one Kansas Turnpike toll posted incorrectly and the other posted about 10 days after the trip.
You know, I bought a PikePass instead of a KTag a few years ago, because I fully expected PikePass to become fully interoperable in Texas before KTag did. Oops.
The TX Tag setup appears to work all across Texas. I don't understand why the OTA couldn't just set up an interoperability arrangement through that agency. Is the RFID format/tech in OTA window stickers the same as TX Tag?
I still think there should be one single nation-wide standard of toll road RFID transponders. We have a unified standard on credit cards. There are many different kinds of credit cards, debit cards and retailer cards. But they all use the same kind of magnetic strip on the back or chip inside the card. Without a unified standard any checkout counter would have a literal Christmas tree of card swipe bull crap hanging all over the place for a bunch of different, incompatible cards. Yet this is essentially what we have with out stupidly goofy toll roads.
Yeah, congress may have passed some law about toll tags years ago. Great job on actually enforcing that law. Freaking morons.
Quote from: Guysdrive780 on December 24, 2018, 02:36:44 PM
The State of Texas overall has 25 toll roads within its borders.
Did you know that these toll roads are operated by different tolling authorities because there are around 20 different tolling agencies in the state including TXDOT itself and excluding the Public Private Partnerships we have with companies like Cintra.
With this amount of toll roads I wanted to start this chat, does anyone think that we should centralize the toll roads into one authority?
There should be one authority, or at least a lot less authorities.
And 25 toll roads is not enough. There should be at least 250 of them.
Quote from: Bobby5280 on January 02, 2019, 11:25:25 PMThe TX Tag setup appears to work all across Texas. I don't understand why the OTA couldn't just set up an interoperability arrangement through that agency. Is the RFID format/tech in OTA window stickers the same as TX Tag?
AFAIK, the technology is the same in KS, OK, and TX--Transcore 6B/6C.
There is an existing interoperability agreement that has been signed by KTA, OTA, NTTA, HCTRA, and whoever represents TxTag (TxDOT turnpike division?). (Wxfree dug it up a year or so ago and posted the link.) My best guess as to why OTA doesn't implement it is a nearest-neighbor problem. The agreement is structured so that tolls incurred by foreign transponders are passed through an interoperability hub that is owned and operated by NTTA, which skims off a fixed amount and a set percentage from each toll (either 3c and 5%, or 5c and 3%--I forget which). It also prohibits transponder discrimination (local and foreign transponders are assessed the same tolls for the same itineraries).
For KTA this is a good deal because the Kansas Turnpike operates as a ticket toll road and is far enough from Texas to handle relatively little Texas traffic. For OTA it is more problematic because OTA facilities are all barrier toll roads and handle higher percentages of traffic from Texas. My speculation, and it is only that, is that notwithstanding its signature on the agreement, OTA is resisting implementing it and instead seeking to negotiate bilateral agreements with the other Texas providers that bypass NTTA's interoperability hub and the processing fees associated with it.
Is TxTag accepted at DFW Airport on International Parkway now? I almost tore off the gate thinking they would accept it.
Quote from: longhorn on January 03, 2019, 11:14:48 AM
Is TxTag accepted at DFW Airport on International Parkway now? I almost tore off the gate thinking they would accept it.
International Parkway is not a toll road; it's an airport access road. The charge is basically a parking fee that increases over time. It isn't a violation to use it as a toll road by driving straight across, but that isn't its intended function. I've read that if you get from one side to the other quickly, they charge more, $2 rather than $1, to disincentivize that use. Years ago, if you used a TollTag, they didn't charge more, but the pass-through discount was discontinued. TollTag, and only TollTag, can be used on International Parkway and to pay for parking at DFW and Love Field. The two airports are not toll authorities, and they accept TollTag only as a convenience for their customers. I know of no plans to extend that convenience to users of other tags.
Quote from: wxfree on January 03, 2019, 12:27:00 PM
Quote from: longhorn on January 03, 2019, 11:14:48 AM
Is TxTag accepted at DFW Airport on International Parkway now? I almost tore off the gate thinking they would accept it.
International Parkway is not a toll road; it's an airport access road. The charge is basically a parking fee that increases over time. It isn't a violation to use it as a toll road by driving straight across, but that isn't its intended function. I've read that if you get from one side to the other quickly, they charge more, $2 rather than $1, to disincentivize that use. Years ago, if you used a TollTag, they didn't charge more, but the pass-through discount was discontinued. TollTag, and only TollTag, can be used on International Parkway and to pay for parking at DFW and Love Field. The two airports are not toll authorities, and they accept TollTag only as a convenience for their customers. I know of no plans to extend that convenience to users of other tags.
Thank you. Its funny watching everyone use the service roads to get around paying. Its easier going southbound through the Airport but virtually impossible going northbound.
Quote from: J N Winkler on December 29, 2018, 06:10:21 PM
As for merging toll agencies in Texas, I don't see that working. There are at least four (historically at least five) different types of tolling entities in Texas, including at least one not already mentioned:
JN Winkler is correct, there is no way all the agencies could be merged, mainly because the rich agencies aren't going to want their funds siphoned and pooled with the poor/underfunded agencies.
For example, the Harris County Toll Road Authority is swimming in money, allowing Harris County to consistently skim over $100 million per year in revenue ($127 million in 2018, $134 million in 2017) and use it outside of the agency.
The agency had $754 million in revenue in FY 2018 (down from $803 million FY 2017 due to Hurricane Harvey and economic slowdown due to the oil price collapse), but its annual payment for interest was only $69 million and total expenses were $402 million. The agency's total liability is listed at $2.7 billion, or about 3.5 years of revenue.
NTTA is also "rich" but I don't know any specific financials off the top of my head. NTTA has monetized future revenue by making the massive concession payment for the SH 121 Sam Rayburn Turnpike, so they don't have as much free cash as Harris County.
Even on the local agency level, profitable toll roads subsidize unprofitable or marginal toll roads. A single statewide agency would basically cause toll payers on busy facilities in affluent areas to subsidize other projects statewide which never should have been built.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdfwfreeways.com%2Fimages%2Fbook%2FChDallasFreeways%2F06_dallas_freeways-313.jpg&hash=da9aa13b6ee63e4c448c881717e5a41eb151fca9)
This conversation is really interesting because Toll roads in Texas is just a very complex thing and weird when you think of them. While working for TXDOT, I have found this presentation and it kind of sets the standards of what toll roads should be like in the state.
Simple Rules for Toll Roads in Texas
1. Toll roads can constitute anything and don't have to follow interstate standards as long as it is an independent road.
-EXAMPLE: Dallas North Tollway, PGBT, etc
2. If a toll road is built on an existing highway, that highway must become the frontage road, if an interstate, the toll road becomes an express lane or lanes.
-EXAMPLES: I-635, I-10, US 290 etc.
3. Toll roads can't be tolled if next to Airports. They must somehow provide free access to them
-EXAMPLES: Beltway 8, SH 161
4: Overall, Interstates and Highways must somehow stay free*
*Exceptions of I-169?, Beltway 8
Overall these rules have mostly stayed consistent through Texas with all of the agencies. Its kind of weird
Even if all the toll road agencies in Texas are never merged there is still no valid excuse for them to continue avoiding a single unified toll tag standard. There should be one single standard nation-wide. For me it's no different than making everyone drive on the right side of the road. It's no different than various credit card companies using the same size/design of cards.
The best I can figure from a customer/driver point of view is all these different toll road agencies are either trying to protect some kind of ego-driven turf or they're trying to figure out ways how they can price gouge non-local drivers more than people who have their local system toll tags. It smells like a bunch of good ole boys network horseshit to me. Credit card merchant fees are a fairly standard thing. There needs to be some unified, consistent, no-games, national standard on what toll road agencies charge for any admin burden they suffer from non-local drivers using their roads. Or maybe there just needs to be an independent national processing hub for all toll road transactions to remove that excuse from all the little toll road agencies scattered all over the place.
For some reason, I look back at the Grand Parkway as a Prime Example of multiple tolling agency working together. Now Grand Parkway (Might as well be Grand Houston Turnpike). But it trully depends on what part of the state you live in. If you live in Houston, you get the EZpass, if you live in Dallas, you are incurraged to pick up the Toll Tag, elsewhere statewide, you are wanting to get the TXTag.
The most powerful toll tag in the state is the Toll Tag no question as it has power not only in Texas but in Oklahoma and Kansas plus the DFW & Love Field Airports.
Why do I think the TXDOT TXtag works in Kansas but not in Oklahoma. I think the KTA made the deal with TXDOT directly and not the OTA. And somehow, because the TXtag works statewide, somehow there must be some chip in our toll tags that takes the same software I don't really know but because of that all the toll tags in Texas work in Kansas. But the OTA spoke with the NTTA and because of that, the NTTA's tag will still be the most powerful.
Now yes, I think that should change and just unify our agency together and separate the Toll Operations Division from TXDOT and make that its own agency itself. The Agency's job would be separated into districts to focus on localized projects and the money made from the toll roads would go back not just into the road but any extra should go to the cities that need it to maintain their own roads. Then we could lower our gas tax a little.