Drivers paid nearly $27 billion in tolls from 2024 back to 1973, the year the roads were to become toll-free. Now the largest passenger toll hike in Illinois history is possible.
By Patrick Andriesen | Illinois Policy Institute
In the 53 years since they were supposed to become free, drivers have paid nearly $27 billion to use Illinois’ toll roads.
Those drivers now face the possibility of the largest passenger toll increase in state history.
In a move to gain union support, last year’s transit bailout bill allows the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board to implement a hike that could raise $1 billion more in tolls a year starting in 2027.
Passenger drivers could see an increase of 45 cents per toll, driving the average up to $1.24, based on the most recent data. Commercial tolls could rise 30%.
That’s despite the fact that since 1973, the authority has collected more in tolls each year than it needed to operate and maintain the system. The agency reported more revenue from tolls in 2024 than any year in the tollway’s history.
For a hike to take effect Jan. 1, the board must vote by Dec. 2.
Record toll revenue in 2024
Illinois has five toll roads totaling almost 300 miles, mainly in Northern Illinois. The tollway authority took in nearly $1.44 billion in tolls in 2024, the most in any year since tolls were first charged in 1959.
Commercial drivers paid $742 million of that, again more than any other year in the tollway’s history, and passenger drivers paid $697 million. The total of almost $1.44 doesn’t count revenue recovered from fare evasion and penalties.
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