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Special Report

Toll Trap: How Texas’ explosive growth led to a toll-building spree

Lawmakers turned to toll roads to boost the Texas economy and address population growth without raising taxes, but the consequences have adversely affected some drivers.

The Dallas Morning News - By Yamil Berard
May 13, 2024

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Every day, thousands of drivers jump on toll roads to ease their commutes to work and school.

Toll roads overlook international bridges and crossings on the Texas-Mexico border, they connect drivers to airports all over the state and they circumnavigate urban cores by way of loops and tunnels.

Texas has so many toll roads that it has earned the distinction of building more miles than nearly all other states combined. Picture this: If you stretched the state’s 852 miles of toll roads across the eastern U.S., they would pass through 13 states — from Maine to South Carolina, a yearlong Dallas Morning News investigation has found.

ABOUT THIS SERIES

Toll Trap is a three-day series exploring how the state's tollway system impacts drivers across the state. Our investigation found that Texas in the last 20 years has built more toll roads than almost all other states combined. The state also aggressively penalizes drivers with unpaid toll bills - even sending their cases to local courts every day. The state, unlike many others, also offers few discounts to drivers who feel entrapped by the toll roads that surround them. Investigative reporter Yamil Berard and data journalist Shuyao Xiao spent months examining Texas' tollway system. The journalists read thousands of pages of legislative reports, transportation studies, as well as financial statements and audits for toll roads operated by Texas' three largest toll agencies since 1998. They spoke with dozens of urban planning specialists, tollway advocacy groups, public policy researchers and mobility engineers and examined roadway and toll data from state and population density information. They filed and read reports from open records requests and attempted to speak to all 22 members of the House and Senate transportation committees along with Gov. Greg Abbott and other high-ranking current and previous elected state leaders.