Central Texas Turnpike Project

Toll roads
Various toll road markers in use in Texas
Highway names
Interstates:	Interstate X (I-X) Interstate Highway X (IH-X)
US Highways:	U.S. Highway X (US X)
State:	State Highway X (SH X)
Loops:	Loop X
Spurs:	Spur X
Recreational:	Recreational Road X (RE X)
Farm or Ranch to Market Roads:	Farm to Market Road X (FM X) Ranch to Market Road X (RM X)
Park Roads:	Park Road X (PR X)
System links
Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs FM/RM Park Rec

There are approximately 25 current toll roads in the state of Texas.Toll roads are more common in Texas than in many other U.S. states, since the relatively low revenues from the state's gasoline tax limits highway planners' means to fund the construction and operation of highways.

Toll roads, sometimes are seen as a recent addition to travel options for commuters. However, this is not the case. In fact the need for, use of, and discussion of toll roads can be traced back to 1939. According to Richard Weingroff at the Federal Highway Administration:

In the 1939 report to Congress, Toll Roads and Free Roads, the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) rejected the toll option for financing Interstate construction because most Interstate corridors would not generate enough toll revenue to retire the bonds that would be issued to finance them. In part, the report attributed this conclusion to "the traffic-repelling tendency of the proposed toll-road system." Although some corridors had enough traffic to support bond financing, the report predicted that motorists would stay on the parallel toll-free roads to a large extent. That conclusion was called into question when the first segment of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, from Carlisle to Irwin, opened on October 1, 1940. It was an instant financial success. Following World War II, the turnpike's continued success prompted other States to use the same financing method. Each State established a toll authority to issue bonds. Revenue from the bonds provided the funds, up front, to pay for construction. Toll revenue allowed the toll authority to repay bond holders with interest and finance administration, maintenance, and operation of the highway.

The use of this toll system is related to the state of Texas as one might infer. For the state of Texas, and more specifically Central Texas has seen a significant growth in recent years. The United States Census Bureau reports that in 2010 Texas had a population just over 25 million citizens. It is estimated that the population grew over five percent in just three years to nearly 26.5 million people. This growth is great for the state of Texas, but has exposed an area of concern. This area of concern is the infrastructure; specifically the lack of thoroughfares that can effectively move the increased vehicle traffic. An answer that that has been provided to address this concern is the implementation of toll roads. While not a recent phenomena toll road construction is more prevalent now than in recent years.

The toll roads in Central Texas are governed through the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA), which is stated to be the creating agency for transportation models to keep up with today's population growth. to promote future road construction which is to alleviate traffic issues within Travis and Williamson Counties Texas is one of few states that has allowed private toll roads.