If commuters who use the Dulles Toll Road and the Dulles Greenway followed the same logic as the roads’ operators, they would say they are getting quite a bargain for dishing out a few dollars cash at rush hour.

But with increases being proposed for the Dulles Greenway — as high as 78 percent for rush-hour access — and expected price increases on the Dulles Toll Road in the next few years, commuters from Loudoun County and beyond could be paying a small fortune to get to work.

The Sydney, Australia-based owners of the Dulles Greenway, a 14-mile highway connecting Leesburg to Dulles Airport and the Dulles Toll Road, are seeking permission from a state transportation board to increase tolls from the current $2.70 to as much as $4.80 each way by 2012.

For the average Greenway commuter, toll expenses could leap from $1,400 to nearly $2,500 annually. For the thousands who then travel daily to Herndon or Reston on the Dulles Toll Road — which increased fares by 66 percent last year from 75 cents to $1.25 — the annual cost could climb to more than $3,000.

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And state officials said they expect another increase on the Dulles Toll Road within the next four years.

Greenway officials said in their application that even the maximum toll proposed is still less than half of what the trip is worth to a commuter.

In making their case to Virginia’s State Corporation Commission, they factored in time savings, operating costs and safety when compared to free alternative routes.

They say the toll road trip — which chops 19 minutes off the commute — is actually worth nearly $10.

“If those calculations are correct, which I believe they are, then the value during rush hours is truly there,” said Frederick-based toll road watchdog Peter Samuel.

“I highly doubt that they will always charge the maximum fare. Sometimes the highest cost is not the most profitable.”

Samuel said increases are being seen on toll roads across the country in the past few years, and the proposed increases on both thoroughfares are not “unusually large.”

mrupert@dcexaminer.com