Developing a Toll Master Developer Model for Financially Sustainable Assigned Toll Roads: Integrating Value Capture and Corridor Development in Indonesia

Background Assigned toll-road projects in Indonesia face persistent financial sustainability challenges due to declining fiscal capacity, dependence on government support, limited monetization of land-value uplift, and fragmented corridor governance. Existing toll-road business models remain highly dependent on tariff revenue and insufficiently integrate corridor-based value creation mechanisms. Methods This study developed the Toll Master Developer (TMD) concept using a sequential mixed-method design. The quantitative stage employed a survey of 70 respondents from government, toll-road companies, academia, and the private sector to identify strategic determinants of TMD effectiveness using Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The qualitative stage applied Soft System Methodology (SSM) to formulate the institutional-business configuration of the proposed model. Results The findings demonstrate that TMD effectiveness is significantly influenced by four dimensions: strategic capability of toll-road developers (β = 0.71), spatial integration between toll roads and area development (β = 0.50), investment ecosystem (β = 0.40), and value capture mechanism implementation (β = 0.31). The SSM analysis further indicates that financially sustainable toll-road development requires toll-road developers to function not only as infrastructure operators but also as corridor coordinators and partial development authorities. The proposed TMD model integrates toll-road operations, area development, and land value capture into a corridor-based financing structure with diversified revenue streams beyond toll tariffs. Conclusions The study contributes a corridor-based institutional-business model that extends toll-road financing beyond tariff dependence toward integrated value creation and capture. The TMD concept provides a strategic pathway for improving the long-term financial sustainability of assigned toll-road infrastructure under constrained fiscal conditions in Indonesia by reducing dependence on government capital support.