Tripling tolls repels rigs in Illinois

The Illinois Tollway (IT) has reported that truck traffic dropped 7.7% systemwide compared with the same period last year. This falloff in truck traffic was expected, as IT planned for a 17.7% decrease in truck transactions as a result of truck-targeted toll hikes, which tripled rates since January.

IT anticipates that truck traffic will return to IT roadways as it expects trucking companies to find the tolls cost-effective given the time saved.

The new toll rates were designed to encourage truckers to travel during off-peak weekday hours and daytime weekends, with rates approximately 25 to 33% lower during such times.