Katy Freeway High-Occupancy Vehicle Lane Value Pricing Project, Houston, Texas: Evaluation of Usage

Abstract

Usage of the QuickRide program on the Katy high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane in Houston, Texas, is described. The QuickRide program allows two-person carpools to use the HOV lane for $2.00 during peak periods when the lane is restricted to three or more persons. Use of QuickRide during its first year is described, and an analysis of the demand for the program is presented. QuickRide usage, reported travel behavior, and demographic data are used to analyze user travel patterns, travel time savings, and frequency of use. In the 1-year demonstration, demand averaged slightly over 100 vehicles per day, with more than 60 percent of these vehicles traveling in the morning peak. Participants' average use of QuickRide was only about 0.9 times per week, and very few participants used it more than five times per week. Yet a sampling of travel days indicates that, for the $2.00 fee, the average vehicle saves about 20 min of travel time. Responses to a mail-back survey show a significant mode shift from drive-alone to QuickRide, amounting to more than 50 percent of QuickRide trips. A substantial shift was also seen in the time of travel into the peak hour, totaling about one-third of QuickRide trips. Finally, larger household sizes and higher incomes appear to be good predictors of QuickRide use. Interestingly, previous use of the HOV lane was not a good indicator, either positively or negatively, for the frequency of use of QuickRide. These results suggest that ( a) the total demand for HOV-2 value pricing may be limited in major travel corridors, despite large potential time savings; ( b) substantial shifts in mode and time of travel are possible with HOV-2 value pricing; and ( c) household size and income are good indicators, but HOV lane use is a poor indicator, of the frequency of use of an HOV-2 value pricing program.