If Republican Gov. Mike Braun successfully obtains federal approval to charge tolls for the use of Indiana's existing interstate highways, they'll probably look and operate more like the tollways in Illinois than the Indiana Toll Road.
A "Statewide Interstate Tolling Strategic Plan" issued in 2018 by the Indiana Department of Transportation offers a glimpse of what Hoosiers can expect should the "Crossroads of America" become the "Cost Roads of America."
Similar to the Illinois Tollway, INDOT envisions an open-road tolling system where motorists regularly pass under gantries at highway speeds and tolls are automatically deducted from an electronic account, rather than forcing traffic to occasionally stop at toll booths to pay the toll as the Toll Road does.
According to the plan, all Indiana motorists would receive a free toll transponder sticker, probably when purchasing their vehicle registration sticker, before interstate highway tolling begins in the Hoosier State — estimated to be four years after tolling is approved.
The sticker would be mounted on a vehicle's windshield, and paired with a credit card or bank account, enabling cameras, pavement loops and other detection tools to identify the vehicle as it drives on the interstate and charge the appropriate toll.
The plan calls for each vehicle to have its own sticker transponder. A family would not be able to share a transponder device among several vehicles, though multiple vehicles with related owners likely could be connected to the same toll payment account.
Vehicle owners lacking a transponder, or who refuse to install one, would be charged a 50% higher toll and billed by mail. Transponders could be used on tollways in other states but in-state and out-of-state vehicles would be charged the same tolls in Indiana since they impact the highway equally.
INDOT's tolling strategy outlines four possible rates ranging from 4 cents to 7 cents per mile for passenger vehicles and slightly higher rates for trucks and other vehicles with more than two axles. Though actual rates likely will be higher to account for inflation since the plan was completed seven years ago.
At the highest proposed rates, a passenger vehicle would pay $10.57 in tolls to travel one-way between Gary and Indianapolis on Interstate 65, while semi-trailers would be charged $57.38 for the 151-mile trip.
Going through Northwest Indiana on Interstate 94 between Illinois and Michigan would cost $3.15 each way for passenger vehicles and $17.10 for multi-axle trucks, according to the plan.
The plan additionally suggests using tolls as a traffic congestion management tool by charging higher tolls during busier periods to force some traffic onto other routes and encourage other motorists to delay their trips.
It projects up to 9% of traffic on the Borman Expressway, for example, could be diverted to local roads depending on how toll rates are set and adjusted.
Braun and the Republican-controlled General Assembly are promoting tolling as a means to supplement funding for state and local road construction projects currently generated by Indiana's 35 cents per gallon gasoline tax — set to rise to 36 cents per gallon July 1 — and the state's 7% sales tax on gasoline purchases.
They claim Indiana needs additional revenue to meet its long-term infrastructure needs due to the negative impact of more fuel-efficient vehicles on the state's double tax on gasoline.