6.6.6.3Vertical

State & Regional Toll Authorities

Public authorities managing state and regional toll road systems.

Market snapshot

These figures describe Toll Road & Highway Operations (6.6.6), the segment that State & Regional Toll Authorities sits within. They are not figures for State & Regional Toll Authorities on its own.

Market size
~$5.2B
Growth
~7.9%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~2,466 firms
Firms by employee count

89.7% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 2,212 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe254 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
14256%
100–499
6626%
500+
4618%

Strong growth off a small base, reflecting how few US roads are actually tolled compared with Europe or Australia. The interest is in the direction of travel: fuel-tax revenue is falling as vehicles electrify, and road pricing is the replacement most transport departments are edging toward, which would widen this segment considerably.

NAICS 488490. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Toll revenue and concession/operations contracts

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$2,091,451
Revenue per employee
$170,960
Employees per firm
21.9
Recurring revenue
High

recurring toll and concession revenue

EBITDA margin
Strong

long-life concession economics

Capex intensity
High

Characteristics

  • Balanced cost base: payroll is 26% of revenue, leaving room to scale margin without cutting staff
  • Moderate strategic-buyer pool: 46 firms exceed 500 employees, so a scaled asset has buyers, but not many
  • Global concessionaires (Transurban, Cintra, Abertis).
  • Congestion pricing and managed/express lanes growing.
  • P3/concession model brings private capital to roads.

NAICS 488490. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Geographic concentration

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaNew MexicoArkansasDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaHawaiiIowaKentuckyMarylandMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode IslandIllinoisCaliforniaMichigan

Illinois, California and Michigan, following the states that built tolled systems early and kept them. Tolling is a policy inheritance more than an economic one, concentrating where mid-century highway authorities were funded by bonds rather than taxes.

IllinoisCaliforniaMichigan

U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses (firms by state), NAICS 488490. Concentration shown by location quotient.

M&A deal context

Deal activityHigh

Who’s acquiring

  • Toll-road concessionaires
  • Infrastructure funds & investors
  • Tolling-technology providers

What’s driving deals

  • Concession and P3 privatization of roads.
  • Congestion pricing and express-lane growth.
  • All-electronic tolling technology.

Find State & Regional Toll Authorities acquisition targets

Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under State & Regional Toll Authorities (6.6.6.3) and build a targeted deal pipeline.

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