In the U.S. the following major toll concessions have been implemented:
• Ambassador Bridge, chartered in perpetuity to the Detroit International Bridge Company by the City of Detroit, June 1927, opened in November 1929, and has been operated by privately held companies ever since. When it was opened, it was the world's longest suspension bridge. The Ambassador Bridge is the major trucking route between Canada and the U.S. and carries some 9,000 heavy trucks a day.
• Dulles Greenway in northern Virginia, a 40-year concession to Toll Roads Investors Partnership II in 1993, opened the 14-mile toll road in September 1995. The concession term has since been extended by 20 years to allow the owners to raise additional capital for widening, adding new interchanges and improving toll collection. Initially a joint venture comprising a local family company, Autostrade of Italy and a construction company, it was acquired by Macquarie in 2005.
• 91 Express Lanes in Orange County, California, concessioned for 45 years to California Private Transportation Company in 1991, opened four Express Lanes 10 miles long in December 1995, and was later purchased by Orange County Transportation Authority.
• Camino Colombia Toll Road, Laredo, Texas was concessioned to approximately a dozen local landowners who had formed Camino Colombia Inc in the mid-1990s. The 22-mile toll road opened in October 2000 and was auctioned in bankruptcy in January 2004, with the Texas Department of Transportation buying it in May 2004.
• South Bay Expressway due to open in 2007, an eight-mile toll road on the eastern fringe of the San Diego area, was concessioned for 45 years by the state of California to California Transportation Ventures in 1991. Construction only began in 2003 following protracted litigation and environmental permitting. California Transportation Ventures was formed by Parsons Brinkerhoff which took the project through to full permitting and environmental clearance, at which point it was sold to Macquarie, which financed and is building the road.
• Chicago Skyway, an established elevated toll road extending 8 miles from the Indiana state line to the Dan Ryan Expressway south of the Chicago Loop, was concessioned for 99 years by the City of Chicago in January 2005. The Chicago Skyway Concession Company LLC is owned by CINTRA and Macquarie, two international toll road operators.
Another category of concession is to quasi-private not-for-profit corporations, which are granted the right to issue tax-exempt bonds under Regulation 63-20 of the tax code. These not-for-profits are formed by a developer company for project financing and operations. Since there is no equity, the bondholders assume all the risk as in a public toll authority. The developer company gets its fees on handover of the toll road to the not-for-profit and has no further monetary interest in the project although, as the instigator of the project, its success or failure reflects on its reputation. Under the tax code, the concessioning state DOT must stay at arms length from the governing board of the not-for-profit corporation. Concessions in this category include:
• Greenville Southern Connector, a 16-mile toll road on the southern side of Greenville, South Carolina was concessioned in 1996 to the Connector 2000 Association Inc. formed by Interwest Carolina Transportation Group LLC. The toll road opened in February 2001. It has failed to meet traffic and revenue expectations, and is regularly drawing on a reserve fund to service debt. It is considered likely the bondholders will take a substantial hit at some point.
• Pocahontas Parkway, Richmond Virginia or Virginia State Route 895 was developed by Fluor Corporation and concessioned to the not-for-profit Pocahontas Parkway Association. A distinctive feature of the Parkway is the major interchange with I-95 and a high level bridge subsequently named the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge over the James River shipping channel of the Port of Richmond. It extends nine miles westerly to Richmond International Airport and the belt route, I-295. It opened in stages in October 2002. The Pocahontas Parkway has generated traffic and revenue below the business plan and Virginia DOT's projections. The Parkway Association is negotiating a sale of the concession to Transurban, an international toll road company.