NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Knoxville, Tennessee – January 14, 2026 – Elliott Schuchardt, a candidate for the Tennessee General
Assembly, is calling for electronic tolling lanes on the I-40 corridor
through Knoxville.
Knoxville, Tennessee is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the
United States. Since 2010, nearly 80,000 people have moved to Knox County
from elsewhere in the United States. Each day, more than 200,000 cars
pass through the Knoxville corridor on Interstate 40.
According to Schuchardt, traffic on I-40 has increased
dramatically. “Fifteen years ago – in 2010 – it was possible to drive
through Knoxville on I-40 at rush hour without slowing down,” Schuchardt
says. “There were two motorcycle cops out every morning, at the Papermill
exit, to ensure that no one went too fast,” he says. Today, that is no
longer possible. The 17-mile stretch of I-40 from Knoxville to Loudon
County, in the west, is marked by congestion on most days.
Schuchardt says the solution is to add electronic
tolling lanes to the I-40 corridor. According to federal law, Tennessee
can add electronic tolling lanes to I-40, provided that the state does not
reduce the number of pre-existing free lanes.
Schuchardt says that several states use electronic
tolling lanes – side-by-side – with free lanes, to keep traffic moving.
This is common on major corridors like I-95, near Washington, D.C.
Virginia, Florida, California, Maryland, and Texas use systems like
E-ZPass or FasTrak for congestion relief. These systems use dynamic
pricing to enable faster travel.
According to Schuchardt, “more and more, this is
not going to be an option.” “Our highways pose a common pool problem,” he
says. A common pool problem occurs when individuals overuse a free,
shared resource (like fish in the ocean or groundwater) because it's in each
person's interest to do so. This leads to collapse of the resource for
everyone.
“If we don’t implement electronic tolling, we simply
won’t be able to use our highways efficiently during peak hours,” Schuchardt
says. Schuchardt says that this will slow the region’s economy, and
create a public safety hazard. “Electronic tolling will ensure that
traffic will move at peak times during the day,” he says.
The State of Tennessee is studying electronic tolling for the I-40
corridor in Knoxville. The Tennessee Department of Transportation has
been holding hearings to solicit community opinion on the idea. TDOT is
expected to release its findings on the issue later this year.
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Elliott J. Schuchardt is a candidate for the Tennessee General Assembly
in the August 2026 election. Schuchardt is the author of America’s Achilles Heel: How to Protect Your
Family When America Loses the Reserve Currency.
Schuchardt studied government at Cornell University and Oxford
University. He is also a graduate of Columbia Law School.
Schuchardt practiced law for nearly thirty years, before running for
office. He focused his legal practice on civil liberties issues in
the courts.
CONTACT:
Elliott J.
Schuchardt
2322 Jockey Run
Trail
Knoxville, TN
37920
Call or Text:
(865) 304-4374
E-mail:
elliott016@gmail.com
Campaign
site: www.elect-schuchardt.com
Twitter or
X: https://x.com/EJSchuchardt
Book
Website: www.elliott-author.com
Campaign
Blog: www.elliottschuchardt.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile
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