Express Lanes Performance Evaluation

Abstract

Transportation authorities around the United States are challenged to develop highway projects that deliver the best operational performance for the public investment. Congestion pricing has been promoted as an efficient operational performance strategy that helps to add roadway capacity when it is needed most, during peak periods of the day. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has implemented its second high-occupancy toll lane in the I-35W MnPASS express lane. This paper examines the performance of the southern 7 mi of the MnPASS lane and considers a number of performance indexes as reported through the project evaluation process. Since the opening of the MnPASS express lanes on the I-35W corridor, average speeds on those lanes during the a.m. peak period have increased by 3 to 4 mph. Average speed in the adjacent general purpose lanes appears to have declined by about 1 to 2 mph in the evaluation period. Vehicle throughput on the MnPASS lanes has increased by 77% and person throughput has increased by 39% over the base year of 2008. Through dynamic pricing, MnPASS lanes are able to ensure free-flow speeds more than 95% of the time. Customers are generally pleased with MnPASS operations and performance, citing value for their money in the form of time savings, less traffic, faster travel, and reduced stress. The I-35W MnPASS express lanes ensure greater speed and reliability for transit service and systems, encourage greater transit use through higher performance, and provide a congestion-free lane for those who choose to pay and those who carpool or ride transit.