Overview
- The eight-member Illinois Tollway Board voted unanimously Wednesday to raise passenger tolls by about $0.45 for I-PASS users and $0.90 for cash-equivalent accounts, and to increase commercial tolls roughly 30 percent, with the new rates taking effect Jan. 1, 2027.
- The board approved automatic inflation-based adjustments tied to the Consumer Price Index that will occur every two years beginning in 2029 and will be capped at an 8 percent increase per adjustment.
- Tollway officials say the revenue — estimated at about $1 billion annually — will fund Driving Connections, a 15-year, $26.5 billion capital program to repair bridges, add lanes, rebuild interchanges and modernize technology across the roughly 294 miles of tollway.
- Opponents including the Illinois Policy Institute and some lawmakers warned the change will raise commuting costs and push trucks onto local roads, while supporters such as engineering groups stress the investment is needed to maintain a self-funded system that does not receive state or federal maintenance dollars.
- The vote follows months of public hearings and was enabled by a 2025 state law that redirected certain motor-fuel sales tax revenues to transit and allowed the Tollway to raise rates to offset lost road funding.