I had no idea that I was paying congestion fees on rental vehicles until I rented a car for ten days recently at Denver International Airport and noticed that $45.33 was added as an “extra daily rate”. That car is featured in the photographs in this article.
Congestion Fees on Rental Vehicles Upheld By Appeals Court
That extra daily rate is what is called a Congestion Impact Fee that is imposed by the state of Colorado that became effective as of Wednesday, January 1, 2025 as a result of the passing of Senate Bill 24-184, which claims that “The act clarifies the scope of the high-performance transportation enterprise’s (transportation enterprise) powers and duties to expand its capacity to execute its charge and more explicitly prioritize mitigation of traffic congestion and traffic-related pollution through the completion of multimodal surface transportation infrastructure projects” with a detailed list of bulleted items.
Colorado is currently charging an additional $3.00 per day on motor vehicle daily rentals, which brings the total of state fees to $5.23 per day and may be added to the final rental receipt under more general entries such as Motor Vehicle Daily Rental or State Surcharge or — in my case — Extra Daily Rate. The state approved of the fee in 2024 on rentals of vehicles of 30 days or fewer to address the impact of rental vehicles on public roads. Funding from the fees is used to support investments in transit services and rail services, which in turn would reduce traffic congestion.
The American Car Rental Association — which is an advocacy group that represents the rental car industry in the United States — challenged the Congestion Impact Fee in Colorado on behalf of such rental car companies as Avis, Enterprise, and Hertz…
…but on Monday, July 27, 2026, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States in Denver upheld the Congestion Impact Fee in Colorado and rejected the aforementioned challenge in a 2-1 ruling, as it found that the fee was valid since the payers are the people who rent vehicles and not car rental businesses; and added that the travelers are those who will benefit from the services provided by surface transportation infrastructure projects funded by the fee.
The fee is increased annually in order to adjust for inflation; and it applies to car-sharing programs and larger vehicles such as moving trucks.
Final Boarding Call
If congestion fees sound familiar to you, that may be because the city of New York currently charges congestion fees for most vehicles which enter the southern half of Manhattan. The Department of Transportation of the United States attempted to force the congestion pricing program in New York to end and be eliminated; but a judge cited back in March of 2026 that the effort was illegal.
Rates for rental cars have significantly increased; the price of fuel is more expensive; tolls are rising in cost; fees are tacked on by airports and local governments; and now at least two forms of congestion pricing have started in recent years in the United States. Based on legal precedents in both cases, do not be surprised to see more governments embrace the implementation of congestion pricing in one form or another in the future.
I personally do not like the idea of paying more money for the same thing I had in the past unless I experience a significant benefit in return — which is also how I feel about paying taxes and gratuities in general. I want value for my money…
…but will the funds from congestion pricing really benefit you and I, who must fund this initiative whenever we rent cars?
All photographs ©2026 by Brian Cohen.
