A high-occupancy toll lane (or HOT lane) is a type of
traffic lane or
roadway that is available to
high-occupancy vehicles and other exempt vehicles without charge; other vehicles are required to pay a
variable fee that is adjusted in response to demand. Unlike
toll road
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or '' toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemen ...
s, drivers have an option to use general purpose lanes, on which a fee is not charged. Express toll lanes, which are less common, operate along similar lines, but do not exempt high-occupancy vehicles.
History
The HOT concept developed from
high-occupancy vehicle lane
A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers, ...
(HOV) systems in order to increase use of the available capacity, as it was found that HOV lanes were underutilized compared to general purpose lanes.
Most implementations are currently in the United States. The first practical implementation was
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
's formerly private toll
91 Express Lanes, in
Orange County, California
Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, ...
, in 1995, followed in 1996 by
Interstate 15 in northern
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
. According to the
Texas A&M Transportation Institute, there were 294 corridor-miles of HOT/Express lanes in operation in the United States and 163 corridor-miles under construction.
The first HOT lane implementation in Canada was along the
Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) freeway in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
. Existing high-occupancy vehicle lanes were redesignated as HOT lanes for a stretch of the QEW between
Oakville and
Burlington. The initial system consisted of $180 permits valid for three months, though HOT lanes with electronic tolling infrastructure were announced as part of forthcoming expansions to
Ontario Highway 427.
Design
Some systems are reversible, operating in one direction during the morning commute and in the reverse direction during the evening commute. The toll is typically collected using
electronic toll collection systems,
automatic number plate recognition, or at staffed
toll booth
A tollbooth (or toll booth) is an enclosure placed along a toll road that is used for the purpose of collecting a toll from passing traffic. A structure consisting of several tollbooths placed next to each other is called a toll plaza, tollgat ...
s. Exempt vehicles typically include those with at least two, three or four occupants, those that use approved alternative fuels, motorcycles, transit vehicles and emergency vehicles.
The fee, which is displayed prominently at entry points to the lanes, is adjusted in response to demand to regulate the traffic volume and thereby provided a guaranteed minimum traffic speed and
level of service Level of service may refer to:
* Levels of service in asset management
* Level of service (transportation) in transportation and traffic
* Something agreed on in a Service-level agreement (SLA)
{{Disambiguation ...
.
The Los Angeles
Metro ExpressLanes HOT system requires vehicles to be fitted with manually "switchable" transponders where the driver selects the number of occupants, based on which the appropriate fee is charged.
California Highway Patrol
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enfor ...
officers have in-vehicle devices which display the declared occupancy of a vehicle, which they can verify visually and
cite any driver(s) with fewer occupants than declared (and tolled for).
The new system proved itself to be highly effective in reducing the rate of lane-use violations, with it falling to 40-50% of the violation rates of other comparable
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
highways, from more than 20-25% (nearly one out of four or five) to just 10% (one in ten). Other transportation officials in California took note of this, subsequently leading to the
Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
officials of
Alameda County to adopt a similar system for the (then) planned
Interstate 580.
Funding and construction
Implementation of these systems can be prohibitively expensive, due to the initial construction required—particularly with regard to providing access to and from the express toll lanes at interchanges. However, the long-term benefits—the decrease in delay to able motorists and increased funding for the transportation agency—may outweigh the costs. To offset costs of construction, many transportation agencies lease public roads to a private institution. As a result, construction may be partially or fully funded by the private institution, which receives all of the income from tolling for a specified period.
[About I-495 HOT Lanes]
Retrieved August 31, 2009
Criticism
Because HOT lanes and ETLs are often constructed within the existing road space, they are criticized as being an
environmental tax
An environmental tax, ecotax (short for ecological taxation), or green tax is a tax levied on activities which are considered to be harmful to the environment and is intended to promote environmentally friendly activities via economic incentives. ...
or "
Lexus
is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...
lanes" solely beneficial to higher-income individuals, since one toll rate is charged regardless of socioeconomic status and the
working poor thus suffer greater financial burden, although some states offer tax deductions or rebates to low income individuals for toll payments. Supporters of HOT lanes counter with the fact that because HOT lanes encourage the use of public transit and ride sharing, they reduce transportation demands and provide
a benefit for all. However, current American public transportation is still viewed and characterized as a form of welfare, leading to paradoxical expenses as public tax dollars across the US bear high subsidies for transit services, while delivering low ridership levels, fewer service hours than other major countries with public transit systems, and longer wait times between trip destinations. Furthermore, HOT lanes have demonstrated no guarantees in eliminating traffic congestion, bringing into question, their fundamental usefulness aside from raising funds for private institutions and local governments.
Examples
High Occupancy Toll Lanes (HOT lanes)
*
Metro ExpressLanes in California
*
Virginia HOT lanes
*
Interstate 405 (Washington)
*
Washington State Route 167
*
California State Route 237 from Mathilda Avenue to Interstate 880
*
Interstate 15 in California, various locations
*
Interstate 580 in California
Interstate 580 (I-580) is an approximately east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway in Northern California. The heavily traveled spur route of Interstate 80 in California, I-80 runs from U.S. Route 101 in California, US Route 101 (U ...
approaching
Altamont Pass
*
Interstate 680 in California, various locations
*
Interstate 77 in North Carolina near downtown
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
*
91 Express Lanes in California
Express Toll Lanes (Express lanes)
*
Northwest Corridor Express Lanes
The Northwest Corridor Express Lanes (formerly Northwest Corridor HOV/BRT) and locally known as the Tollercoaster, is a completed Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) project which has put Peach Pass-only toll lanes along Interstate  ...
(
Interstate 75
Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from ...
and
Interstate 575) in Georgia. (No vehicles including HOV 3+ are exempt from the toll.)
*
South Metro Express Lanes (Interstate 75 and
Interstate 675) in Georgia. (No vehicles including HOV 3+ are exempt from the toll.)
*
North Tarrant Express in Fort Worth, Texas. Includes Interstate 35W, Interstate 820, State Highway 183, and State Highway 121 (During rush hour, vehicles including HOV 2+ are given a 50% discount)
*
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally ...
Katy Tollway in Houston, Texas (Vehicles including HOV 2+ are only exempt from the toll during rush hour periods)
*
Interstate 95 in Maryland Between the I-895 merge and just north of MD 43 in White Marsh
See also
*
Road space rationing
*
Transportation demand management
*
List of toll roads in the United States
*
Feebate
References
External links
*
Various HOT lane articleson website dedicated to road pricing
*
* - includes evaluation of 21 HOT lane projects in the U.S.
*
*
*
{{Road types
Electronic toll collection
Intelligent transportation systems
Road congestion charge schemes
Toll (fee)
Road infrastructure