RALEIGH, N.C. Apparently following the lead of Virginia, neighboring North Carolina has launched an effort to obtain federal permission to toll Interstate 95.

In mid-September, Virginia announced it had received "conditional" approval from the Federal Highway Administration to submit an application for permission to toll the portion of I-95 that runs south from Fredericksburg, to the North Carolina state line (see Oct. 1 Bus & Motorcoach News).

North Carolina transportation officials announced late last month they had filed documents with the Federal Highway Administration, asking to be accepted into a pilot program that would allow three states to toll existing interstates running through them.

"We are going to keep our options open," said Greer Beaty, director of communications for the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

"Consultants hired by the state currently are completing an in-depth, two-year study on the future of the 182 miles of I-95 that run through North Carolina, and tolling is one of the options being explored, Beaty said.

"We are not going to make firm decisions without the support of the people and the data," she said.

Virginia officials say it will take about 18 months for them to prepare the required application, which the federal government said must address such issues as the environmental, economic and traffic effects of tolling I-95.

The federal government does not allow states to toll existing interstate highways, but in 1998 Congress created a pilot program that would allow three states to toll.

States argued for the pilot, saying they need more money to maintain interstates.

Thirteen years later, however, no interstate has been tolled under the pilot. Indeed, until last month, no state had moved beyond the stage where the FHWA accepted them as participants.

Only Missouri, which wanted to toll Interstate 70, and Virginia, which originally wanted to toll Interstate 81, have been accepted into the pilot program. Acceptance meant the two had the right to move to the next step, which was to submit tolling applications to the Federal Highway Administration, laying out why it should grant permission.

Missouri did not move forward to the application stage. And Virginia, facing strong opposition, abandoned its plan to charge tolls on I-81.

Then, last year, Virginia asked the Federal Highway Administration to allow it to substitute I-95 for I-81, which the federal agency agreed to in September.