On Jan. 1, 2025, a systemwide toll increase goes into effect on Oklahoma turnpikes. For the typical turnpike user and PIKEPASS customer, the increase will amount to about 1-cent per mile. Across Oklahoma, turnpike users will now pay an average of about 7 cents per mile.
On the I-44/Turner, I-44/Will Rogers, I-344/ John Kilpatrick and I-335/Kickapoo turnpikes, users will see a 20 percent toll increase. On the I-44/H.E. Bailey, Creek, Indian Nation and Muskogee turnpikes, users will see a 15 percent toll increase. On the Cimarron, Cherokee and Chickasaw turnpikes, users will see a 10 percent toll increase. The Gilcrease Expressway in west Tulsa will not see a toll increase until early 2026 because it is on a separate trust indenture.
In addition to the toll rate increase, there will be a 6 percent toll rate inflationary increase planned for implementation every other year starting Jan. 1, 2027. These rate adjustments will be reviewed annually in consultation with OTA’s traffic engineers as required by the Authority’s Trust Agreement. Upon review, the Board will consider adopting the inflationary adjustment to the schedule of tolls sometime before each effective date.
The turnpike system does not receive state tax appropriations with toll revenue serving as the only source of funding for operations, maintenance and debt payment.
Oklahoma Turnpike Authority is committed to keeping costs reasonable. Tolling costs in Oklahoma have not kept up with inflation, and in 2024 the rate on the Turner Turnpike was $4.50 from Oklahoma City to Tulsa, up only a few dollars from the $1.40 rate travelers paid when the turnpike opened in 1953.
The increase will generate revenues to support planned significant investment in the turnpike system through ACCESS Oklahoma, a long-range plan to keep turnpikes safe, reliable and make travel across the state easier.
“Oklahoma turnpike tolls will remain among the lowest rates in the nation, compared with the national tolling average of 22 cents per mile,” said Joe Echelle, OTA executive director. “It’s important that we remain competitive and affordable while balancing the increasing costs of construction, maintenance and operations. OTA is committed to providing safe, high-speed highway infrastructure and key corridor connections to the tax-supported state highway system.”
ACCESS Oklahoma will address significant transportation needs on the existing turnpike system while also helping solve growing congestion, travel time reliability and safety issues plaguing the state highway system. The program will widen several turnpike corridors to six lanes, address pavement and bridge conditions, create new access to communities along the corridors, improve emergency response times, complete the Oklahoma City Outer Loop and construct a new route to relieve traffic in the I-35 southern corridor. The estimated construction cost of this 15-year, long-range plan is $8.2 billion. It is the largest re-investment in the turnpike system since its inception in 1953.
Also, beginning Jan. 1, to simplify the tolling process, the classification of vehicles has been reduced from five toll categories of vehicles to three categories of vehicles: small, medium, and large. These classifications are still based on the number of axles on a vehicle traveling through the turnpike system.
For the lowest rate, motorists are encouraged to sign up for a PIKEPASS at pikepass. com. To learn more about ACCESS Oklahoma, visit https://www. accessoklahoma.com.
