CARTA Regional Toll Equity Study

The Capital Area Regional Tolling Authority (CARTA) is seeking qualified consultants to develop a Regional Toll Equity Study. The study will leverage geospatial analysis, focus groups, and community feedback to evaluate how tolling will impact the Capital Region. The study will assume that Express Lanes will be implemented on Interstate 80, Interstate 5, Highway 50, State Route 99, and State Route 65 as planned in SACOG’s 2025 Blueprint. Therefore, the study does not seek to answer the question of whether the Capital Region should implement tolling and instead focuses on how tolling can be implemented to better serve low-income residents and other impacted communities. The plan’s central deliverable is a table of actions that CARTA and its partners can take to make tolling more equitable in the Capital Region. This “Equity Framework” should designate near- mid- and long-term activities and should include both actions that are implemented system-wide and those that are corridor-specific. The Regional Toll Equity Study is on an accelerated schedule to ensure it is finished before CARTA opens its first toll facility, the Yolo 80 Express Lanes in summer 2028. The Equity Study team will need to work collaboratively with CARTA’s Toll Program Management team to ensure priority near-term actions can be implemented before Yolo 80 goes live. The Regional Toll Equity Study is funded by a Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant that is passed through SACOG. CARTA is the lead on the project and the contract resulting from this procurement will be with CARTA.