<P> In Texas the backlash against Toll Roads has culminated in several organizations including the Texas Toll Lawsuit website where approximately 10,000 Texans are building a class action lawsuit against the state . Another organization performing similar activities is Texans United for Reform & Freedom . The purpose of these organizations is to combat what they claim as egregious tolling fines and illegal / immoral practices by the toll road authorities . </P> <P> Due to the enduring controversy over the future of Texas toll roads, the state legislature overwhelmingly passed a moratorium on all new toll roads in Texas in 2007 . The moratorium effectively banned all new proposals for toll roads for two years, until 2009 . However, this moratorium was deemed the "Swiss cheese moratorium," as it had a multitude of exemptions placed in it . Specifically, the exemptions allowed almost all the projects in the North Texas / Dallas regions to go forward . The primary concern leading to the moratorium was that the state was hurting taxpayers in the long run by deviating from its tollway authority model and contracting out roads entirely to private companies . Many legislators saw this as problematic, as the primary function of these toll roads would not be to serve the public but to serve as an instrument of profit for private corporations . These companies could raise tolls to whatever the market could bear with little or virtually no public input, and the tolls would continue long after the construction costs were paid for . </P> <P> The Toll Operations Division of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) operates the Central Texas Turnpike System (CTTS) as well as other toll roads around the state . TxDOT established the Grand Parkway Transportation Corporation for the purpose of developing the Grand Parkway toll project, a portion of which is now open . </P> <P> Regional tollway authorities are political subdivisions of the state established by two or more counties . The North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) is the only regional tollway authority . NTTA operates all toll roads in the Dallas--Fort Worth Metroplex . NTTA provides tolling services for the managed lanes in the region, but does not own or operate any managed lanes . </P>

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