The University of Toledo University Transportation Center : UTUTC-IU-8: An Analysis of the Status and Impacts of Public Private Partnerships of the Indiana Toll Road

Focus Area: Infrastructure Utilization

Principle Investigator:

Hiroyuki Iseki, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Geography and Planning
The University of Toledo
Toledo, OH 43606
419.530.4303 
hiseki@utnet.utoledo.edu

Project Dates: 08/16/2008 – 8/15/2009

Project Year: Year 2

UT-UTC Designation: UTUTC-IU-8

Abstract:

In light of funding shortfalls and continuous demand for the construction and maintenance of highways nationwide, public private partnerships (PPPs) in conjunction with road pricing have recently been garnering tremendous attention from federal, state, and local governments in the U.S. One of such examples is the Indiana Toll Road, which runs through northern Indiana and connects to the Chicago Skyway in the west and the Ohio turnpike in the east. It is one of the most critical transcontinental routes that moves freight to and from major US distribution hubs. Tolls are collected either by cash or the electronic toll system.

While this PPP arrangement with tolls has brought substantial amount of funding to Indiana to support other transportation improvement projects in the state, it is still uncertain whether or not this arrangement will bring the net benefit to the society in the long term. In particular, most debates do not address the impact of a private management of this corridor on freight movement as well as passenger travel, taking into account coordination among states of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, where the interstate highway 80/90 runs through.

This study will investigate the impacts that the PPP arrangement of the Indiana Toll Road has brought after its introduction. We will examine the status of the PPP management of the toll road, its impacts on the road users, and its effects on the connected highway facilities, using the document and data collected from public agencies and private firms involved in this PPP concession deal. Combining the findings and the forecasted toll rates for the Indiana Toll Road, this study will infer the implication of the PPP management of the Indiana Toll Road on the eastern side of the interstate highway 80/90—the Ohio Turnpike in future, addressing the connectivity issue of the highway network in the presence of the private sector management.