Why Illinois Drivers Will Pay Up to 66 Percent More in Tolls Starting in 2027

• The Illinois Tollway board approved its first rate increase in nearly 15 years, raising passenger vehicle tolls by 50 to 66 percent and commercial truck tolls by an average of 30 percent, effective January 1, 2027.
• A typical I-Pass transaction that costs 75 cents today will rise to $1.20, and tolls will then increase automatically every two years starting in 2029, tied to inflation and capped at 8 percent per adjustment.
• The agency says the hike will generate roughly $1 billion a year, funding a $26.5 billion capital program aimed at rebuilding aging bridges and pavement across the state’s toll network.

The First Toll Hike in 15 Years Is Here

Illinois drivers who have paid the same toll rate from 2012 through this year are about to see that change for good. The Illinois Tollway board has approved a sweeping rate increase, its first in nearly 15 years, that will raise passenger vehicle tolls by 50 to 66 percent depending on the plaza and push the average commercial truck toll up roughly 30 percent. The new rates take effect January 1, 2027, giving drivers a few months to plan for a noticeably higher cost of using the system’s roughly 294 miles of tollway across the Chicago area and beyond.

The most common passenger toll transaction on the system, currently 75 cents with an I-Pass transponder, will rise to $1.20, an increase of 60 percent at that specific plaza. Other mainline and ramp plazas will see increases toward the higher end of the 50 to 66 percent range, depending on how each segment is classified under the new fee schedule the board adopted.

Why the Tollway Board Says It Had No Choice

Tollway officials describe the increase as overdue maintenance catching up with a system that has gone without a rate adjustment for a decade and a half while construction and material costs climbed. Governor JB Pritzker defended the hike in blunt terms focused on the state’s aging infrastructure: “We want to make sure that our roads are pothole-free, that we’re making sure to build more so that we can build our economy.” Tollway Executive Director Cassaundra Rouse acknowledged the increase will not be popular with everyone who uses the system. “We heard support. We heard concerns. And we heard important questions about affordability, about accountability, congestion and our responsibility to maintain the system,” she said, describing a public comment process that ran for months before the board’s final vote.

The agency’s chief financial officer, Cathy Williams, offered a comparison meant to soften the sticker shock: even after the increase, Illinois I-Pass passenger vehicles will average about 11 cents per mile, compared with a national average toll rate of roughly 16 cents per mile on comparable systems elsewhere in the country. That comparison positions Illinois as still relatively affordable by national standards even after the jump, though it will do little for drivers simply trying to budget for a higher monthly commuting cost starting at the beginning of next year.

Where the Extra $1 Billion a Year Is Supposed to Go

The increase is expected to generate roughly $1 billion annually in new revenue, money the Tollway says is earmarked for a $26.5 billion capital program spanning bridge replacement, pavement reconstruction and system modernization projects across the network’s full length. Illinois Tollway infrastructure includes some of the busiest interchanges in the Midwest, and large sections of pavement and bridge decking date back decades, meaning deferred maintenance has been accumulating even as rates stayed flat.

Unlike a one-time fee bump, this increase is designed to be the first of several. Starting in 2029, tolls will adjust automatically every two years based on inflation, with any single adjustment capped at 8 percent. That structure is meant to prevent the system from going another 15 years without a rate change and having to impose another jump this large all at once, instead smoothing smaller, predictable increases into the system’s long-term budget.

How Illinois Compares With Toll Hikes Elsewhere

Illinois is not alone in raising toll rates this year. Agencies across the country, from Pennsylvania and New Jersey’s shared crossings to several regional authorities, have moved on their own rate increases in 2026 as construction costs and deferred maintenance backlogs push infrastructure agencies toward similar decisions. What sets the Illinois increase apart is both its size, a jump of 50 percent or more at most plazas, and how long it has been building: 15 years without an adjustment left the agency little room to phase in smaller, more frequent increases the way some peer systems have managed instead.

Commercial drivers and trucking companies face a smaller percentage increase, around 30 percent on average, but a larger absolute dollar impact given how much higher truck toll rates already run compared with passenger vehicles. Freight industry groups have flagged the hike as a cost that will eventually work its way into shipping rates for goods moving through the Chicago region, one of the busiest freight corridors in North America.

A System Built Differently From Most State Roads

The Illinois Tollway operates separately from the state’s regular highway budget, funded almost entirely through the tolls drivers pay rather than through gas tax revenue or general state funds. That structure means the agency cannot simply ask the legislature for more highway money when costs rise. Its bridges, pavement and toll plazas are paid for only through what the tollway itself collects, which is the direct reason a rate increase, rather than a budget appropriation, is how the agency closes a maintenance funding gap. The network includes major corridors such as the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway, the Tri-State Tollway, the Veterans Memorial Tollway and the Illinois Route 390 Tollway, carrying commuters, commercial trucks and interstate travelers across the Chicago metropolitan area every day.

What Drivers Should Do Before January

Drivers who use the tollway regularly should check their I-Pass account settings before the new year to confirm their auto-replenishment threshold and payment method are current. A sudden jump in per-transaction cost can drain a prepaid balance faster than expected if it is not adjusted. Commuters who drive the tollway daily for work should run their own math now: multiply their typical daily toll cost by roughly 1.5 to 1.66 to get a realistic estimate of their new monthly commuting expense starting in January, and factor that into household budgeting the same way drivers would plan for a jump in gas prices or insurance premiums.

Infrequent users without an I-Pass transponder should know that pay-by-plate and cash-equivalent rates typically run higher than transponder rates on toll systems nationally, and Illinois is no exception, so signing up for an I-Pass account ahead of the increase is one of the simplest ways to minimize the impact of the new fee schedule. The Tollway’s website lists the full plaza-by-plaza rate schedule taking effect January 1, allowing drivers to look up the exact new cost for their specific daily route rather than relying on the system-wide average.

What Happens Next

The rate schedule is final and does not require further board action to take effect, so barring an unexpected legal challenge, drivers should plan on the new tolls starting January 1, 2027. The real test will come in 2029, when the first automatic inflation-linked adjustment arrives under the new policy. How the Tollway communicates that first automatic increase, which will not require the kind of extended public hearing process that preceded this one, will shape how Illinois drivers view the predictability of the new system in the years ahead. For now, the most useful step any regular tollway user can take is simple: look up the exact new rate for your own daily plazas on the agency’s published schedule, and adjust your commuting budget before the January 1 start date arrives rather than after the first higher charge hits your account.

Sources:

• Chicago Sun-Times: Illinois Tollway OKs First Rate Hike in Nearly 15 Years
• ABC7 Chicago: Illinois Tollway Board Approves Rate Increase, $26.5B Capital Program to Maintain Roads