Bay Area Regional HOT Lane Plan Approved

"The region-wide project along segments of 12 highways would cost an estimated $3.7 billion to build. Officials anticipate the system will generate more than $6 billion in 25 years - enough money to cover the project's expenses and produce additional cash for other roadway and transit improvements."

"The toll roads would be incorporated into existing carpool lanes, which now comprise about 350 miles of freeway, and the approximately 140 miles of additional carpool lanes now under construction. The plan calls for building another 300 or so miles of the lanes to fill in the gaps and create a seamless network."

"Officials anticipate that solo drivers initially would pay 20 to 60 cents per mile in the early years of the program, and perhaps up to $1 per mile in 2030. Carpools, vanpools, mass transit and motorcyclists would continue to use the priority lanes for free.

Under the scheme, people driving alone would enter and exit the express lanes at designated locations and be tracked via a network of electronic readers erected along the freeways that link to a FasTrak transponder in the vehicles."