US toll roads were first on the road to pre-pandemic recovery and are well-positioned to return to normal traffic and revenue growth, according to Fitch Ratings’ latest sector peer review.
“Toll roads were able to restore traffic and revenue growth off of peak declines at the outset of the pandemic very quickly, which bodes well for the sector in the coming months with travel restrictions being lifted,” said Anne Tricerri, director, Fitch Ratings, adding that toll traffic and revenue levels are also positioned to move beyond pre-pandemic levels over time.
However, one area of potential concern for toll roads, like all other major transportation sectors, is rising gasoline prices. “High gas prices could curb growth coming out of the pandemic, especially for discretionary leisure traffic as we head into the summer travel season,” said Tricerri.
Still, according to Fitch Ratings, US toll roads proved to be one of the more resilient infrastructure sectors to the pandemic’s impact on the broader economy and one of the quickest to return to pre-pandemic traffic movement.
Since its 2020 peer review, Fitch has taken two positive rating actions, revised the Rating Outlook on five toll roads to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’, and revised the Outlook on one to ‘positive’ from ‘stable’. Possibly the most notable sign of the sector’s strength is that Fitch did not take any negative rating actions on toll roads during this period.
Fitch has also released an update to the interactive peer study for US toll roads, available in the ‘U.S. Toll Roads – 2022 Fitch Analytical Comparative Tool (FACT)‘. Going forward, Fitch will conduct its annual peer reviews using a more granular five-point volume assessment scale as detailed in its ‘Transportation Infrastructure Rating Criteria Exposure Draft’ that was published last month.
You can learn more about the key trends and challenges affecting senior decision-makers who have responsibility for tolling, intelligent transportation systems and road pricing in the USA at the first-ever Road User Charging Conference in Miami, on 13-14 June 2022. Click here for more information.
