Study: Selmon Expressway saves commuters nearly 30 hours a year

For the average commuter, the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway saves something increasingly scarce in fast-growing Tampa Bay: time.

Drivers who use the toll road save an estimated 29 hours each year, according to a new economic impact study from the University of South Florida’s Center for Urban Transportation Research.

The study also found that the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority’s investments in the expressway and its continued operation have generated approximately $2.1 billion in regional gross domestic product since it was created in 1976. That is up from the estimated $1.6 billion calculated in a similar 2022 study.

“This significant growth reinforces what we see every day,” Greg Slater, the authority’s CEO and executive director, says in a release. “Strategic transportation investments do more than move people. They help strengthen our economy, expand opportunity and support the continued growth of the communities we serve.”

The new report attempts to measure both the economic activity generated by nearly $2 billion invested in the Selmon system and the broader benefits of connecting workers, employers and customers across Hillsborough County.

Without the expressway, researchers estimated, traffic diverted to surrounding streets and highways would increase congestion delays across the broader road network by 27%. That would amount to about 500,000 additional hours spent in traffic each day.

The findings are based on transportation and economic modeling, including a comparison of the existing road network with a hypothetical one in which the Selmon Expressway did not exist. The estimates therefore represent modeled effects rather than money or time directly recorded from individual drivers.

The 17-mile, all-electronic toll road stretches from the Gandy Bridge area through downtown Tampa to Brandon. Its connections allow drivers to travel from South Tampa to Interstate 75 without encountering a single traffic light.

That convenience comes at a cost. Depending on where motorists enter and exit, current tolls for two-axle vehicles range from 75 cents to $2.18 with a SunPass, with higher rates for drivers billed through Toll-by-Plate. The authority processes about 78 million toll transactions and serves nearly 4 million customers annually, according to its website.

The report arrives as the authority is undertaking another major investment in the corridor. Construction began this year on the $362 million South Selmon Capacity Project, which will add one lane in each direction along about 4.5 miles between Himes Avenue and downtown Tampa.

The authority also opened the $230 million Selmon West Extension in 2021. The elevated, 1.9-mile toll lane carries regional traffic above Gandy Boulevard between the expressway and the Gandy Bridge.

Both projects have been financed using toll revenue and bonds rather than general tax dollars, according to the authority.