WICHITA — Tolls are going up on the Kansas Turnpike this fall.
On KVOE’s 8:05 am newscast Thursday, Turnpike Authority Communications Director Rachel Bell said there will be two sets of rate changes, reflecting a change in customer habits from using cash to K-TAG.
K-TAG tolls could be as much as 25 percent below cash tolls for passenger vehicles. For commercial vehicles, the savings could be as much as 18 percent when compared to cash.
Changes go into effect Oct. 1.
The Turnpike Authority says the decision to raise tolls came from its Long-Term Needs Study from 2015, current infrastructure needs, results from a recent customer satisfaction survey, the KTA’s financial model and anticipated traffic for fiscal 2019. Upcoming projects including removing gates for more K-TAG lanes, building highway-speed toll lanes in Topeka and near the Oklahoma border and increased compatibility with toll roads in other states.
The KTA says its toll rate per mile is still one of the lowest in the country, and the upcoming rate changes reflect a shift in driver habits with around 60 percent of travelers using K-TAG or some other electronic transponder to pay tolls.
Click here for the new rate schedule for cash customers. Click here for the new rate schedule for K-TAG customers.
