HOT Lanes

Despite installing many innovative traffic management schemes over the years, the 41 miles of highway between Fredericksburg, Virginia and Washington D.C. are snarled by some of the worst traffic in the country. Can HOT lanes change that?

March 24, 2014 - Atlantic Cities

The Bay Area already has express lanes - but these 23 miles in Contra Costa County on I-680 will be the first built and operated by the new Bay Area Infrastructure Financing Authority, a division of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).

March 19, 2014 - Contra Costa Times

State transportation leaders are scrambling to increase funding as MAP-21 draws to its expiration on Oct. 1. Interstate tolling is being eyed by more than a few. While the Wisconsin Assembly likes the idea, Gov. Scott Walker rejects it.

March 10, 2014 - Stateline

The 495 Express Lanes opened in Virginia in November 2012 and have yet to meet ridership projections. That might not be a problem when built by the public sector, but the road is a $1.4 billion investment by the Australian firm Transurban.

February 28, 2014 - WAMU

That could be one explanation for the popularity of the I-95 Express Lanes, called Lexus Lanes by opponents because of the toll paid by solo drivers. While the toll has increased, so has their popularity with drivers, even with the maximum $7 toll.

January 2, 2014 - WLRN

Orange County, birthplace of the nation's first high occupancy toll (HOT) lane, may never see another. Not only did they reject a plan to add one (or two) toll lanes, to the 405 Freeway, legislation to ban them altogether may be introduced.

December 11, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

States are increasingly looking to high occupancy toll lanes as a means of revenue generation as well as congestion management, as they deal with the shortfall in transportation revenue from federal and state governments. Ga. may provide a good test.

December 2, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

A year after $2 billion high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes opened along the Capital Beltway in Northern Virginia, traffic volume remains below projections.

October 25, 2013 - WAMU

Got road congestion? Pricing in the form of managed (don't call them HOT) lanes makes more sense than new construction, according to a panel of transportation experts led by HNTB Corp., reports James Bruckbauer of Michigan Land Use Institute.

August 30, 2013 - Michigan Land Use Institute

Perhaps it's not surprising to learn that HOT lane usage increases when prices increase. Higher prices, after all, signal congestion up ahead. What is surprising is the amount drivers are willing to pay to shave mere minutes off their commute.

August 19, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

According to SF State University geographer, Jason Henderson, the adoption of Plan Bay Area by MTC and ABAG last Thursday was a "watershed moment in regional planning", but it also was a missed opportunity to improve transit to capture more trips.

July 26, 2013 - San Francisco Bay Guardian

High-Occupancy Toll lanes have become a popular tool to help reduce congestion and raise revenues. But recent projects in cities throughout the U.S. have failed to meet expectations. Eric Jaffe investigates the reasons why.

June 24, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

Yes, L.A.'s first foray into congestion pricing has improved travel times for those utilizing the high occupancy/toll lanes, but congestion has gotten worse in all other lanes, to the surprise of planners.

April 11, 2013 - Los Angeles Times

Recent financial disclosures from the company that operates the Capital Beltway's new high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes in northern Virginia show that the lanes lost $11.3 million in their first six weeks of operation with fewer users than expected.

February 11, 2013 - The Washington Examiner

Robert Poole reports on efforts across the country to reduce freeway congestion through HOV-to-HOT conversion and public-private partnerships.

February 27, 2012 - reason.com

Various environmental groups have joined a lawsuit aimed at SANDAG's (San Diego's MPO) 2050 regional transportation plan for not going far enough in state mandated efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, explains Damien Newton.

February 24, 2012 - LA Streetsblog

Choosing the Goldilocks price for a congestion-priced toll lane is no easy task - as the Georgia Dept. of Transportation has discovered after the first week of operation of the I-85 Express Lanes through parts of Gwinnett and DeKalb counties.

October 10, 2011 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Single occupant electric vehicles retained access to carpool lanes in California, while hybrid owners lost it on July 1st.

September 15, 2011 - Los Angeles Times: Environment

California Report previews 25 miles of new express or high occupancy toll lanes coming to LA as a pilot project paid from the competitive value pricing grant program under President Bush. The lanes currently are reserved for high occupancy vehicles

July 8, 2011 - The California Report

USA Today reports on some of the more unusual methods being tried around the United States to relieve traffic congestion.

April 4, 2011 - USA Today