Roads That Make A Difference

Orange County is home to beautiful beaches, world-class shopping and the happiest place on earth. It’s also home to the largest network of toll roads in the state. Comprised of State Routes 73, 133, 241 and 261, The Toll Roads make up more than 20 percent of Orange County’s highway system and are the fastest, easiest and most predictable way to get to and through Orange County.

More than 300,000 tolls are collected on The Toll Roads every weekday. That's nearly 100 million tolls in Fiscal Year 2017. Without The Toll Roads, those vehicles would be on Orange County's congested freeways and arterials. Everybody's drive would be different without The Toll Roads.

A Different Way To Fund Transportation

To finance the roads, toll revenue bonds were sold as the primary funding source. The bonds can only be repaid by future tolls and development impact fees. Since the bonds are not backed by the government, taxpayers are not responsible for repaying the debt nor do taxpayers carry the risk if future toll revenues fall short. Today, toll revenue and development impact fees go toward making bond payments, funding additional improvements and covering costs of operating The Toll Roads.

Prior to The Toll Roads, no local agency in California had ever built highway facilities without state and federal funds.

Some people think tolls are a tax, but that is not the case. Tolls are voluntary user fees. Drivers can choose to pay tolls or take alternative routes -- whereas taxes are mandatory and charged to everyone. If it weren't for tolls, many of the best roads and bridges in the U.S. might never have been built.

Different Investments Can Be Good Investments

In 2013 and 2014, TCA's bond debt was refinanced to take advantage of historically low interest rates and establish debt structures that align with The Toll Roads’ historical revenue growth. Since the refinancings, transactions and revenue have exceeded projections and reserves have grown, providing stability to weather future economic downturns and support the financing of TCA’s Capital Improvement Program. As of August 1, 2017, all of TCA’s senior lien bonds had investment grade ratings from the three major credit rating agencies (Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch Group).

TCA's finances have never been in better condition -- as evidenced by recent bond ratings upgrades, strong liquidity and growing reserve fund balances. Transactions and revenue numbers are at an all-time high.

Different Partners For Unprecedented Results

TCA functions as a small agency with big partnerships. Everything we do involves a partnership and fruitful collaboration with community members, regional transportation planners and stakeholders. TCA's partners include:

• Caltrans -- Maintenance of The Toll Roads as part of the state highway system
• California Highway Patrol -- Law enforcement
• Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) -- Planning and policy initiatives for Southern California
• Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) -- Collaboration for regional mobility solutions
• Orange County Public Works -- Traffic flow improvement and connectivity
• Orange County Central/Coastal Natural Communities Conservation Plan/Habitat Conservation Plan (NCCP/HCP) -- A connected network of permanent open spaces across Orange County

Setting Aside Differences

TCA has joined more than a dozen environmental organizations in a landmark, award-winning settlement that underscores the collaboration between TCA’s leadership and the leaders of the environmental community. It is with this collaboration and framework that TCA will move forward to review alternative solutions for solving the regional traffic problem in a manner that protects our most environmentally and culturally sensitive lands.

The Foothill-South Settlement Agreement followed a 20-year effort by TCA to gain approval for the southern extension of the 241 Toll Road. The agreement clears the path for a new process to find a balanced solution that provides traffic relief while also protecting sensitive lands and cultural resources.

A Different Kind of Environmental Pioneer

For a quarter century, TCA's environmental initiatives have preserved scenic beauty and healthy ecosystems while building sustainable transportation solutions and operating the state's largest network of toll roads.

TCA was an early partner and major financial contributor to The Orange County Central/Coastal Natural Communities Conservation Plan/Habitat Conservation Plan (NCCP/HCP). The NCCP/HCP and its idea of creating multi-species habitats — instead of focusing on one plant or animal species at a time — broke new ground and developed a large-scale plan to protect 39 individual species. Ultimately, it launched a new approach for coordinating development and habitat preservation.

Today, the land set aside under the NCCP/HCP stretches over nearly 40,000 acres from Orange County’s coast to the Cleveland National Forest and shelters seven federally protected species and more than 30 sensitive species. The coastal sage scrub found on half of the NCCP/HCP land represents one of the rarest ecosystems in the world – often compared to the Amazon, Madagascar and the eastern Himalayas for its breadth of biodiversity.

In order to balance construction of The Toll Roads, TCA has restored and preserved in perpetuity more than 2,200 acres of open space in Orange County -- many of which are home to the federally protected songbird, the California gnatcatcher. The open spaces that we protect remind us of bygone days, when ranchers, farmers, cattle and the occasional mountain lion populated Orange County.

Delivering a Project Differently

TCA was one of the first agencies in the state to use the pioneering design-build method for the construction of public roads. The approach combines design and construction simultaneously to save time and money and incentivize private-sector companies to complete projects on time.

TCA has a number of capital projects in the works: Toll Booth Removal Project; South Orange County Traffic Relief Effort; 241/91 Express Connector Project; and the Oso Parkway Bridge Project

Working Toward A Different Future

With Orange County’s population expected to increase by more than 250,000 residents and traffic delays projected to increase by 66 percent by 2040, TCA is committed to identifying solutions that will relieve the traffic congestion on Interstate 5 through South Orange County.

In Fiscal Year 2017 (FY17), TCA conducted a study of the South Orange County community which identified high levels of agreement that there is a growing traffic problem that people expect their elected officials and public agencies to fix. There is undoubtedly excessive I-5 traffic during the morning and evening commute times, on weekends and whenever there is an accident or incident that impacts an I-5 traffic lane. Data has concluded that this severe congestion is significantly impacting quality of life for South Orange County families, residents, business owners and commuters.

TCA, Caltrans and the Orange County Transportation Authority are working to address traffic congestion concerns in South Orange County. TCA is studying traffic congestion relief ideas proposed by the public during three public forums. Some of these ideas will be evaluated as part of the formal environmental review process.

Drivers Pay In Different Ways

TCA offers drivers multiple ways to pay tolls incurred on The Toll Roads. There's a way to pay that is ideal for all of our different driver types -- daily commuters, weekend warriors, area visitors and the occasional user.

With a FasTrak® account, drivers prepay tolls and mount a transponder to their vehicle’s windshield for electronic toll collection. FasTrak drivers pay tolls that are $1 less than all other drivers. And, the FasTrak transponder allows accountholders to pay tolls electronically on every tolled bridge, lane and road in California. TCA is the creator of FasTrak.

With an ExpressAccount®, photos of a vehicle's license plates are used to record transactions and tolls are charged individually to a credit card (ExpressAccount Charge), withdrawn from a prefunded account (ExpressAccount Prepaid) or invoiced at the end of the month (ExpressAccount Invoice). An ExpressAccount may only be used to pay tolls on the 73, 133, 241 and 261 Toll Roads and does not use a transponder for toll collection.

The One-Time-Toll® online payment option was created specifically for area visitors or infrequent users of The Toll Roads. Within five days before or five days after driving, tolls can be paid using The Toll Roads free app or online at TheTollRoads.com using the One-Time-Toll feature. Drivers can enter specific trip details to calculate their own toll(s) or enter their license plate number to have tolls calculated for them.

Record-breaking Days Make A Difference

TCA’s solid financial health and continued growth in transactions and revenue, reflect The Toll Roads’ value to Orange County’s vibrant economy and transportation network. During the last three years, The Toll Roads’ ridership has increased by nearly 20 percent.

This year, ridership numbers on the 73 Toll Road set new records for every day of the week. The 133, 241 and 261 Toll Roads had four record-setting days and all of The Toll Roads combined had five record-setting days when ridership reached numbers never-before-seen.

In FY17, more trips were taken and more transactions were recorded on The Toll Roads than any other year in TCA’s history.