Prices of tolls to stay steady for now

In reversal of a recent trend, toll rates along county-managed lanes will not increase this year, meaning more nickels for some drivers.

Harris County Commissioners on Tuesday morning approved a request by the Harris County Toll Road Authority to forego raising rates at five Westpark Tollway ramps this year. Based on the method HCTRA uses, the ramps at Rice, Royalton, Post Oak, and two Gessner ramps were supposed to increase from 40 cents to 45 cents.

Rates are adjusted in five-cent increments based on the U.S. consumer price index. When inflation triggers the next increment, HCTRA imposes it. This year, however, officials calculated implementing the hike would cost more than revenue it would generate.

“Costs to implement include agency and contractor time and expenses,” said Patti Evans, HCTRA assistant director for communications.

“The annual toll rate increase requires months of preparation and expense in order to update internal roadside and back-office tolling systems with new rates, purchase new permanent roadside signage, update external digital and print materials, complete testing of the tolling infrastructure system, and conduct transactional audits to ensure accuracy of the system changes once implemented,” she said.

For the fiscal year that ended Feb. 28, 2015, HCTRA collected $688.9 million in tolls. Collections maintain the tollways, pay off the county’s debt associated with building various tollways and provide for other road building controlled by the county.

No increase is uncommon for HCTRA, which has implemented other ramp increases the past three years. A controversial plan last year to raise rates on the Katy Managed Lanes along Interstate 10, however, was scaled back when local officials and drivers balked.