Triangle Expressway Toll Rate Increase Begins Jan. 1; 14-22 cent increase for 17.4-mile trip


RALEIGH – A slight increase in the toll rate for the Triangle Expressway will take effect Thursday, Jan. 1, as required by the bond covenant created for the funding of the Expressway. The N.C. Turnpike Authority Board adopted a schedule of annual toll rate increases based on the financing requirements of the Triangle Expressway project, which set a 5 percent increase for 2015.

The increase will be $0.14 for N.C. Quick Pass Customers and $0.22 for bill-by-mail customers traveling the 17.4 miles between N.C. 147 at I-40 and the N.C. 55 Bypass. The new cost of the trip is $2.91 for Quick Pass customers and $4.45 for bill-by-mail customers.

Revenue raised through the tolling process is used to pay off the bonds sold to fund the $1 billion highway.

Plans are under way for upgrades to the Expressway, with two added interchanges. One will be at Old Holly Springs/Apex Road, between U.S. 1 and the N.C. 55 Bypass in Holly Springs. The other will be in western Cary at Morrisville Parkway.

Motorists who use a Quick Pass transponder on the Expressway now have the largest coverage area of interoperability in the nation. Last month a partnership with Georgia’s Peach Pass began, joining earlier agreements with Florida’s Sun Pass, and with E-Z Pass, which operates in 15 states in the east, northeast and midwest sections of the country.

For N.C. Quick Pass information, including payment and purchase options, call 1-877-7MY-PASS (1-877-769-7277) or visit the N.C. Quick Pass website.