It is extremely confusing and very hard to keep track of. The state claims that the fees collected are to maintain these roadways. However, many of the “improvements” on Texas toll roads are purely for aesthetic design, such as: adding fancy decals, murals, LED light displays, and decorative paint to the pillars and walls. In reality, most of the funds generated from toll fees go to pay off long-term debt from financing these roads and also, to build more toll roads (source 1, 2). Very little money goes toward improvements. Adding state of the art safety measures costs a lot of money and private investors do the bare minimum in terms of maintenance in order to increase profits.
In fact, a recent quality assurance review found that American highways are deteriorating faster than expected due to poor upkeep. (source) High interest rates on the loans borrowed by the city, state or country to build these roads are impossible to pay off. If we look at China, the country with the most toll operated roads in the world, over 400 billion yuan ($60 billion usd) is collected yearly but operating costs are 729 billion yuan - this mainly goes toward the interest of the loans for the roads. Currently, China is in debt to private toll road investors to the sum of 4.45 trillion yuan.
