The Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) Boards of Directors approved Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budgets with expenditures totaling $421.8 million — $139.0 million for the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency (SJHTCA) and $282.8 million for the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (F/ETCA) — at the May board meeting. Key highlights within the FY26 budgets include a $47 million early paydown of bond principal for SJHTCA, as well as planning for the funding and phasing to advance three capital improvement projects: the 241/91 Express Connector, the 73 Catalina View Improvements and the 241 Loma Improvements.
In addition, other key budgeted initiatives include:
- Continuing prudent asset management and replacement planning of operational equipment to balance risk with lifecycle efficiencies.
- Safety improvements and modernization of The Toll Roads customer service center and TCA administrative office space.
- Continued implementation of one-way interoperability and expanded efforts towards full national interoperability.
- An assessment of TCA’s long-term financial system needs to provide a future roadmap for accounting, budgeting, business intelligence, procurement and related system needs.
- Selection of phase one projects for TCA’s Habitat Conservation Fund.
The FY26 budgets, set to begin July 1, 2025, reflect positive transaction and revenue trends while remaining fiscally conservative, maintaining the Agencies’ history of cost containment, and incorporating FY26 activities from the Boards-approved strategic plan. The budgets are also aligned with the Agencies’ Boards-approved Toll, Liquidity and Debt Management Policies while meeting the fiduciary responsibility to bondholders. The approval of the budgets concludes a thorough and collaborative development process where members of TCA’s committees provided input over several months, beginning in February.
“I applaud my board colleagues and TCA staff for delivering a fiscally responsible budget that supports the Agencies’ initiatives, including the cash funding for the advancement of our capital improvement projects, specifically the 241/91 Express Connector,” said Trish Kelley, F/ETCA Chair and Mission Viejo City Council Member. “As trips on The Toll Roads steadily increase, these projects will bring improvements to The Toll Roads to provide the reliability drivers expect.”
“The Fiscal Year 2026 budget reaffirms the Agencies’ commitment to strong fiscal management and debt service reductions through the early bond paydown program, where the SJHTCA has planned another early paydown of principal bond debt in 2026 of $47 million of callable bonds,” said David Penaloza, Chair of the SJHTCA and Santa Ana City Council Member.
Early bond paydowns, as well as bond refundings and open market bond buybacks, have produced substantial interest savings and decreased outstanding principal for both the San Joaquin Hills and Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agencies, further enhancing each Agencies’ strong financial position.
The approved budget is consistent with the Boards-adopted Toll Rate Policy. For information regarding the policy and toll rates for FY26, please visit TheTollRoads.com/Map-Rates.
The Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) are two joint powers authorities formed by the California Legislature in 1986 to plan, finance, construct and operate Orange County’s public toll road system comprised of the 73, 133, 241 and 261 Toll Roads, which represents 20% of Orange County’s highway system.
