Are HOT Lanes the Way to Go?
You hear about it and more importantly you experience it. The drudgery and inconvenience of traffic congestion; whether it be rush hour traffic, a traffic accident, a special event or road construction. We, in the DC metropolitan area, have first-hand experience in all those scenarios, especially the last one with the repair of many potholes on our local roads, arterials and highways brought on by the harsh winter we experienced this year. The solutions to address congestion are many and various from building more roads and lane additions, investing in public transit systems such as rail, street car or buses; or encouraging more car-pooling and commuting by bike.
One alternative that is being planned and implemented in the Washington DC metro area is HOT lanes. HOT lanes, or High occupancy/toll lanes, is a road pricing or tolling approach that gives motorists of single occupancy vehicles the option of paying to use high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV lanes). Sometimes, entire roads are designated for the use of HOVs. Tolls are usually collected by automatic tolling systems. Typically, these tolls increase as traffic density and congestion within the tolled lanes increases; a policy known as congestion pricing. The goal of this pricing scheme is to manage traffic congestion within the lanes and reduce congestion overall.
HOT lanes were added to the Virginia side of the Capital Beltway in 2012. Now called I-495 Express Lanes, the 14-mile express lanes serve as dedicated high-occupancy/toll traffic lanes designed to provide a predictable trip on the Capital Beltway in Virginia, from the Springfield Interchange to just north of the Dulles Toll Road. The variable toll is charged always to single occupied vehicles while high-occupancy vehicles (3 or more people in the vehicle) may use the I-495 Express Lanes for free. Additionally, the express lanes are free for carpools/vanpools if they contain three or more people, buses, motorcycles, and emergency vehicles. Conveniently there are no toll booths, tolls are collected at highway speeds. Yikes! Drivers need an E-ZPass to use the express lanes and, again, the cost is variable which means the toll varies based on how many cars are using the express lanes.
I-495 Express La
How have the express lanes worked? A Washington Times article from November of 2013 indicated the results have been mixed. The article reported that the express lanes were underperforming one year after the opening, but that is not a unique situation with similar road projects across the country. Experts for the article reported that the modest results may be due to “changing transit patterns, driver unfamiliarity with the lanes, and overly optimistic predictions of usage early in the planning phase.”
The express lanes were built through a private-public partnership and operated by an Australian company, Transurban. The article quoted a Transurban official stating that “there’s certainly a ramp-up period and there’s education to be done, and that is the focus for the next year”. The plan is to create better signage and expanded outreach efforts to increase usage. I can say there is no shortage of online info related to the express lanes. A spokesman from AAA reported similar results from a same type facility in Maryland; the much-publicized Inter-County Connector (ICC). Controversy and delays surrounded the construction and completion of the ICC for 20 years or so. I would think citizens may have been more aware of the ICC than the 495 express lanes given how long it took to complete the project. It just may take some time to show more positive results. The article did report that the average number of daily trips has increased steadily since the I-495 Express Lanes opened in November 2012.
The article notes other HOT projects across the country have experienced similar rollout problems, but transportation scholars say usage has increased as drivers become accustomed to them.
In Atlanta, where there was initially fierce opposition to HOT lanes on Interstate 85, tolls had to be adjusted soon after their 2011 opening because, so few drivers were using the lanes. Planners got the pricing wrong. In Los Angeles, congestion actually increased since drivers weren’t aware of the required passes or transponder devices and were forced back onto the regular highway, which increased congestion. In Miami, the article notes that the facility was too successful, so they are contemplating price changes to reduce usage.
While many look to HOT projects as the wave of the future, critics refer to them as Lexus lanes, serving the wealthy while leaving others stuck in traffic. A December 4, 2012 USA Today article indicated that some critics look at HOT lanes as highways that motorists have already funded through the payment of gas taxes, and then the lanes are turned over to private operators. Such critics view these private-public partnership deals as not generally in the best interest of the motorists.
The article also noted that the $105 billion, two-year highway authorization bill signed into law by President Obama in July 2012, gave states more flexibility on tolling. Experts predicted more HOT lanes on the interstates because of (the funding bill). The projects in Virginia and other parts of the county support that prediction. The bill allows adding more price-managed lanes if they don't convert an existing general purpose lane (to tolls).
I had reviewed early studies done on HOT lane implementation in Texas and California, sites where the first HOT lanes in the country were planned and constructed. The concern was that HOT lanes would discourage carpooling, especially with HOV lanes that had already been in place and were relatively successful. Overall results indicated very little impact. HOT lanes may not change driver behavior too much, but drivers in Houston can attest that the QuickRide program, which began 1998, provides drivers with an extensive number of options. Solo drivers pay full price, HOV-2 pay reduced price, HOV-3 use the HOV lanes for free.
I-15 Express Lanes
Credit: Mopacexpress.com
With funding for transportation infrastructure becoming harder and harder to come by, HOT lanes look like a viable option, especially in heavily populated metropolitan areas. Even if we could raise the gas tax, which probably won’t happen, it doesn’t look like a gas tax hike would fully cover our infrastructural needs anyway. Evidence shows that demand for gas may be decreasing given the increased use of hybrids and more fuel efficient cars. But that’s a good thing. It is important that planners need to be able to realistically quantify the results HOT lanes are expected to generate and compare actual results to expectations.
My concern is that HOT lanes may be viewed as a panacea, the only viable option available to decision makers to address congestion. HOT lanes are becoming a part of the landscape for commuters in the DC area, with the 495 express lanes in VA and the ICC in MD, but also the HOT lanes being constructed in the I-95/I-395 corridor in VA. It should be viewed as one of many tools to be used to reduce congestion on our nation’s roads. While it may work in some areas, it may not in others. Decision makers should proceed cautiously, especially with the seemingly current trend that people may be beginning to drive less.
A colleague once iterated to me that there are three primary purposes for HOT lanes: "the increase in highway capacity pays for itself, it provides higher quality service for those willing to pay for it and it encourages migration from SOV to MOV as a means of improving efficiency. The three purposes are not mutually exclusive.”
For more information on the use of Public-Private Partnerships, I recommend reviewing a publication released in 2012 by the Eno Center for Transportation “Partnership Financing: Improving Transportation Infrastructure Through Private Public Partnerships.”
I also want to thank Jean Friedberg, Regional Transportation Initiative Coordinator for the Fort Meade Regional Growth Management Committee for his thoughts on this blog post.