Driving a passenger vehicle from Oklahoma City to Tulsa on the Turner Turnpike will cost PikePass holders $5.75 starting Jan. 5, 2027, up from $5.40.

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority board voted unanimously on Thursday, Nov. 5, to approve the toll increase across the state turnpike system, according to Oklahoma Voice. The new rate for PikePass passenger vehicles rises about a penny to 8 cents per mile, according to Oklahoma Voice. Commercial vehicles will pay just under 28 cents per mile, FOX 25 reported.

Lisa Shearer-Salim, an OTA spokesperson, said the OKC-to-Tulsa fare increase works out to about 35 cents more per trip for PikePass holders in a passenger vehicle, according to Oklahoma Voice.

The increase is meant to generate a 6% bump in toll revenue for the authority, said Mary Biswell, the OTA's director of revenue assurance, according to Oklahoma Voice. The previous statewide toll hike was in 2025, Biswell said.

More increases are likely. "We anticipate coming back every two years to consider another 6% increase," Biswell said, according to Oklahoma Voice.

What the money pays for

The revenue funds the Advancing and Connecting Communities and Economies Safely Statewide program, known as ACCESS Oklahoma. The 15-year expansion and improvement project is now projected to cost about $9 billion, according to Oklahoma Voice.

That figure has grown. ACCESS was initially projected at $5 billion, then rose to $8.2 billion because of inflation, according to Oklahoma Voice. Additional projects pushed the estimate higher, including a plan to widen the Turner Turnpike from Bristow to Oklahoma City to eight lanes instead of the originally planned six, Shearer-Salim said.

OTA Executive Director Joe Echelle said traffic continues to rise on the turnpike system, according to FOX 25. Echelle said the increase keeps pace with inflation and supports widening the Kilpatrick Turnpike in Oklahoma City and the Turner Turnpike between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The revenue also funds new alignments south of the metro area, FOX 25 reported.

Gilcrease Expressway also affected

The board also approved a separate toll increase for the Gilcrease Expressway, which is financed separately from OTA’s main turnpike system. PikePass holders driving the full length will pay about 15 cents more per trip, an increase of about 7%, according to News On 6. The OTA said this is the first toll rate increase requested for that corridor.

The authority said it worked with the federal government to avoid previously scheduled 3% toll increases on the Gilcrease Expressway in both 2024 and 2026, according to News On 6.

Simplified vehicle classes

The OTA also approved a new vehicle classification system, cutting the number of categories from five to three. OTA uses three vehicle classes based on axle count: small (two-axle vehicles such as cars, SUVs and pickups), medium (three and four axles) and large (five and six axles), according to News On 6.

About half of the OTA's toll revenue comes from out-of-state drivers, the authority said, according to FOX 25.

Drivers can estimate trip costs using the PikePass toll calculator on the agency's website. Shearer-Salim said the calculator will be updated to reflect the new rates when the increase takes effect.