High-occupancy Toll Lanes Research Articles

Application of Dynamic Value Pricing through Enhancements to TRANSIMS

In the past decade, transportation agencies have become increasingly interested in a high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane value pricing system, especially one with a dynamically varying toll system that depends on the congestion levels in the HOT lanes. HOT lane users are influenced by many factors, including toll prices, savings in time, and purpose of the trip. The current methodologies that forecast the demand for a HOT lane value pricing system are aggregate and do not consider individual traveler socioeconomic characteristics, particularly the value of time (VOT). This paper applies heterogeneous VOT for each individual into the generalized travel time function. This approach relaxes the conventional assumption of constant VOT. The generalized travel time function combined with VOT is used as a route choice for each traveler between the two choices (a toll lane versus a nontoll lane) in a HOT lane value pricing system. With this function, each driver is assigned to the network on the basis of a dynamic traffic assignment. This approach is implemented by using TRANSIMS on a large transportation network. TRANSIMS has a microscopic simulation model that enables the user to capture route choice behavior, including each traveler's response to dynamic tolls through heterogeneous VOT. To initiate this capability, TRANSIMS was enhanced to support dynamic toll pricing. It is now capable of presenting the 15-min dynamic toll rates. In addition, the impacts of various tolls on route choice can be analyzed on the basis of socioeconomic and trip characteristics of each traveler.

Attitudes and Willingness to Pay for Tolled Facilities

This paper presents the results of an evaluation study of the behavioral impacts of a high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane project in Minnesota. The I-394 MnPASS Express Lane Project is the fifth HOT lane project implemented in the United States. HOT lanes remain a new enough concept that there is little empirical information on methods for evaluating them or on their impacts on travel behavior for transportation planners and policy makers to use when making decisions about future facilities. The MnPASS evaluation study is significant not only because it uses a panel design but also because it involved multiple waves of stated preference (SP) experiments. These waves were conducted before and after project implementation. This paper uses information from the evaluation study to examine two significant issues: (a) How applicable is a panel design to evaluating road pricing projects? and (b) How does willingness to pay vary on the basis of before-and-after iterations of the SP experiments?

I-394 MnPASS High-Occupancy Toll Lanes

The I-394 MnPASS express lanes opened in May 2005 as Minnesota's first high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane project. The MnPASS lanes were opened by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) after a decade of study, outreach, and education that garnered political and community support for a demonstration project on value pricing in the state. Mn/DOT staff and their project partners faced new challenges when the Minnesota governor and legislature authorized the adaptation of the I-394 high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to HOT lanes, and Mn/DOT leadership sought to implement the project as soon as possible. Without any existing toll roads in Minnesota, the team faced the challenge of delivering a project that was both publicly and politically supportable and technically sound. This paper discusses the expectations and issues addressed by the project team and community task force during the planning process, and the actual results achieved during the first year of operation of the I-394 MnPASS lanes.

Who Chooses to Carpool and Why?

The debate over high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) and high-occupancy toll lane efficiency has raised questions about whether HOVs should be given preferential treatment on managed lanes and the potential impacts of different preferential treatments. This research questions why people choose their mode of travel by examining characteristics of carpoolers and single-occupancy vehicles, reasons for their travel mode choice, and carpool formation, on the basis of a survey of travelers in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston in Texas. Carpool users rated the ability to use HOV lanes as the most important factor in their decision to form a carpool. Enjoying traveling with others ranked second, followed by reasons such as saving time, helping the environment and society, and sharing vehicle costs. Carpool partner matching programs, employer carpool incentives, and preferred parking at work were generally the least important factors in travelers' consideration of carpooling. The importance of various factors changed significantly if the respondent was on a work or commute trip versus other trip modes. Travelers on work or commute trips ranked travel time savings and cost sharing much higher, as expected, because of their frequent travel during peak hours. The data also support evidence of a significant amount of “fampooling,” with nearly 75% of carpools consisting of family members. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Differentiated Road Pricing, Express Lanes and Carpools: Exploiting Heterogeneous Preferences in Policy Design

In the face of rising congestion on the nation's road system, policymakers have explored ways to reduce travel delays. One approach has been to allocate reserved lanes - called high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes - to vehicles carrying two or more people. A recent innovation is to allow solo drivers to use the HOV lanes if they pay a toll. These so-called high-occupancy-toll (HOT) lanes can be found in Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, and Minneapolis and are under consideration in several other urban areas. In this paper, we argue that HOV and HOT lanes sacrifice efficiency by failing to price all lanes. Moreover, we show that it is possible to set prices on all lanes that improve on the efficiency of HOV and HOT policies and by catering to motorists' varying preferences, can meet the test of political acceptability.

Analytical Tool for Evaluating Adaptation of a High-Occupancy Vehicle Lane to a High-Occupancy Toll Lane

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) sponsored research to develop a decision support tool to aid in evaluating key issues related to adapting a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane to a high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane. The tool includes three broad categories of factors to consider: facility considerations, performance considerations, and institutional considerations. Facility considerations, such as design, operations, and enforcement, which have been shown to be critical factors, can present insurmountable obstacles to the implementation of HOT lanes. Performance considerations and goals allow the user to estimate the likely levels of usage and person movement, factors that always bear significantly on HOT lane development decisions. Institutional considerations are also addressed, as factors of interagency cooperation and legal limitations are historically important for HOV lane and HOT lane decisions. Finally, the research incorporates simple trade-off tools to allow TxDOT and local entities to assemble all relevant factors into an analysis to aid decision makers in evaluating the available options. The analysis tool was developed in Visual Basic.net. The program is called the High-Occupancy Toll STrategic Analysis Rating Tool (HOT START), and it is designed to be tailored easily to local needs. An application of the tool to the I-10 (Katy Freeway) in Houston is also provided. Many state departments of transportation are facing the difficult task of performing assessments of potentially adapting HOV lanes to HOT lanes, and this paper describes a practical tool that can assist such analysis.

Potential Single-Occupancy Vehicle Demand for High-Occupancy Vehicle Lanes

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes as an alternative to high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to help manage the increasing demand for travel. HOT lanes combine pricing and vehicle occupancy restrictions to optimize the demand for HOV lanes. As two of the five HOT lanes in the world, the HOT lane facilities in Houston, Texas, require peak period travelers in vehicles with two occupants to pay a toll to use the lanes. During other periods of the day, two-occupant vehicles can use the lanes for free. Single-occupancy vehicles (SOVs) are never allowed. There was an opportunity to increase the usage of these HOT lanes by allowing SOV travelers to use the lanes during the off-peak periods, for an appropriate toll. This research examined the potential SOV demand for HOV lane use during the off-peak periods from the Katy Freeway and Northwest Freeway general purpose lane travelers. Of course, allowing SOVs on the HOV lanes is a multifaceted policy decision that has not been tackled by the operating agencies, and this research simply estimates the demand if such an option existed. This included estimating two important factors that influenced travelers’ potential use of the HOV lanes: their value of travel time savings (VTTS) and their value of penalty for changing their travel schedule (VPCS). It was found that respondents had VTTS approximately 45% of their hourly wage rate and VPCS approximately 3% of their hourly wage rate. Combining this information with current travel time savings and available capacity on the HOV lanes, it was found that approximately 2,000 SOV travelers per day would pay a combined total of $4,500 to use the HOV lanes during the off-peak periods.

Potential Single-Occupancy Vehicle Demand for High-Occupancy Vehicle Lanes: Results from Stated-Preference Survey of Travelers in High-Occupancy Toll Corridors

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes as an alternative to high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to help manage the increasing demand for travel. HOT lanes combine pricing and vehicle occupancy restrictions to optimize the demand for HOV lanes. As two of the five HOT lanes in the world, the HOT lane facilities in Houston, Texas, require peak period travelers in vehicles with two occupants to pay a toll to use the lanes. During other periods of the day, two-occupant vehicles can use the lanes for free. Single-occupancy vehicles (SOVs) are never allowed. There was an opportunity to increase the usage of these HOT lanes by allowing SOV travelers to use the lanes during the off-peak periods, for an appropriate toll. This research examined the potential SOV demand for HOV lane use during the off-peak periods from the Katy Freeway and Northwest Freeway general purpose lane travelers. Of course, allowing SOVs on the HOV lanes is a multifaceted policy decisi...

Analytical Tool for Evaluating Adaptation of a High-Occupancy Vehicle Lane to a High-Occupancy Toll Lane

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) sponsored research to develop a decision support tool to aid in evaluating key issues related to adapting a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane to a high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane. The tool includes three broad categories of factors to consider: facility considerations, performance considerations, and institutional considerations. Facility considerations, such as design, operations, and enforcement, which have been shown to be critical factors, can present insurmountable obstacles to the implementation of HOT lanes. Performance considerations and goals allow the user to estimate the likely levels of usage and person movement, factors that always bear significantly on HOT lane development decisions. Institutional considerations are also addressed, as factors of interagency cooperation and legal limitations are historically important for HOV lane and HOT lane decisions. Finally, the research incorporates simple trade-off tools to allow TxDOT and local entities to assemble all relevant factors into an analysis to aid decision makers in evaluating the available options. The analysis tool was developed in Visual Basic.net . The program is called the High-Occupancy Toll STrategic Analysis Rating Tool (HOT START), and it is designed to be tailored easily to local needs. An application of the tool to the I-10 (Katy Freeway) in Houston is also provided. Many state departments of transportation are facing the difficult task of performing assessments of potentially adapting HOV lanes to HOT lanes, and this paper describes a practical tool that can assist such analysis.

So You Want to Make a High-Occupancy Toll Lane?: Project Manager's Guide for Conversion from High-Occupancy Vehicle Lane to High-Occupancy Toll Lane

Although high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes have been studied or have existed for more than 10 years, the continuing developmental nature of these concepts means that there is little guidance for project managers on how to manage the process of converting a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane to a HOT lane. Many guidelines have been published about the technical elements of HOT lane development and operations. A project manager of an HOV to HOT lane conversion process would face issues that differ from those of the typical highway construction project, and managing these issues can be difficult and arduous. The intent of this paper is to address issues from the perspective of the implementing agency's project manager. Eight specific issues to be addressed within the conceptual development of the HOT lane conversion process are identified here: (a) presence of significant and predictable excess capacity in the HOV lanes, (b) presence of significant and recurring congestion in the adjacent general purpose lanes,...

Feasibility Assessment of Metropolitan High-Occupancy Toll Lane Network in Atlanta, Georgia

High-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes have become an important consideration in metropolitan areas where a limited ability to expand the road network leads officials to examine ways to use existing road capacity more efficiently. A feasibility study of a HOT lane network was done in the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area. Although the concept of HOT lanes is not new, how one analyzes a regional HOT network with existing travel demand models has not been reported in the literature. Results are presented of market research and of a systems-level analysis that were used to examine the feasibility of a regional HOT network in Atlanta. How such a feasibility analysis can be undertaken is illustrated, and policy implications are noted.

So you want to Make a High-Occupancy Toll Lane?

Although high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes have been studied or have existed for more than 10 years, the continuing developmental nature of these concepts means that there is little guidance for project managers on how to manage the process of converting a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane to a HOT lane. Many guidelines have been published about the technical elements of HOT lane development and operations. A project manager of an HOV to HOT lane conversion process would face issues that differ from those of the typical highway construction project, and managing these issues can be difficult and arduous. The intent of this paper is to address issues from the perspective of the implementing agency's project manager. Eight specific issues to be addressed within the conceptual development of the HOT lane conversion process are identified here: (a) presence of significant and predictable excess capacity in the HOV lanes, (b) presence of significant and recurring congestion in the adjacent general purpose lanes, (c) nature of traffic separation on the HOV lanes, (d) primary means of funding for the HOV lanes, (e) identification of the HOT lane program's primary objective, (f) determination of the appropriate implementing agency, (g) avoidance of overwhelming public opposition, and (h) ability to build political support for the process. This paper has summarized the first of what the authors see as four steps to the successful conversion of an HOV lane to a HOT lane: conceptual development. Planned subsequent papers will address the remaining three steps: program design, implementation, and ongoing operations.

Value Pricing Education and Outreach Model: 1-394 MnPASS Community Task Force

After a decade of public discussion and political debate, the I-394 MnPASS Express Lane, Minnesota's first high-occupancy toll lane, opened in May 2005. The MnPASS project was designed to improve the efficiency of I-394 by increasing the person- and vehicle-carrying capabilities of existing high-occupancy vehicle lanes, maintaining free-flow speeds for transit and carpools, and using electronic toll collection (tags/transponders and readers) for dynamic pricing and electronic enforcement. While previous road pricing initiatives in Minnesota, as in other states, have provided opportunity for public feedback, the process tends to be confrontational and less than satisfying for all parties. Both citizens and politicians often believe comments and concerns are minimized and rarely taken seriously enough to alter project plans. The I-394 Express Lane Community Task Force, however, was formed to help citizens and stakeholders fully understand the project and its goals and to provide a more effective vehicle to ...

Value Pricing Education and Outreach Model

After a decade of public discussion and political debate, the I-394 MnPASS Express Lane, Minnesota's first high-occupancy toll lane, opened in May 2005. The MnPASS project was designed to improve the efficiency of I-394 by increasing the person- and vehicle-carrying capabilities of existing high-occupancy vehicle lanes, maintaining free-flow speeds for transit and carpools, and using electronic toll collection (tags/transponders and readers) for dynamic pricing and electronic enforcement. While previous road pricing initiatives in Minnesota, as in other states, have provided opportunity for public feedback, the process tends to be confrontational and less than satisfying for all parties. Both citizens and politicians often believe comments and concerns are minimized and rarely taken seriously enough to alter project plans. The I-394 Express Lane Community Task Force, however, was formed to help citizens and stakeholders fully understand the project and its goals and to provide a more effective vehicle to give advice and guidance during the development of the project. Through this process, the task force members became an informed voice for the project and an essential part of an extensive education, outreach, and public involvement process that has been critical to the success of the I-394 MnPASS project. If proved successful in the long run, this task force model increases the likelihood that Minnesota citizens will support such projects in the future.

High-Occupancy Toll Lane Innovations: I-394 MnPASS

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) has implemented the state’s first optional toll lane project, called the I-394 MnPASS, in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. This project, which opened in May 2005, converts the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on I-394 into high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, allowing solo drivers the opportunity to pay an electronic fee to bypass congestion. The lanes remain open to HOV use at no charge, including transit riders, car pools, and motorcyclists. I-394 MnPASS is the first tolling project that prices a facility directly adjacent to general-purpose lanes, separated only by a double-white-stripe buffer. Several HOT-lane innovations have been introduced to reduce project development time and costs, to improve operations, and to enhance enforcement.

Feasibility Assessment of Metropolitan High-Occupancy Toll Lane Network in Atlanta, Georgia

High-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes have become an important consideration in metropolitan areas where a limited ability to expand the road network leads officials to examine ways to use existing road capacity more efficiently. A feasibility study of a HOT lane network was done in the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area. Although the concept of HOT lanes is not new, how one analyzes a regional HOT network with existing travel demand models has not been reported in the literature. Results are presented of market research and of a systems-level analysis that were used to examine the feasibility of a regional HOT network in Atlanta. How such a feasibility analysis can be undertaken is illustrated, and policy implications are noted.

Differentiated Road Pricing, Express Lanes, and Carpools: Exploiting Heterogeneous Preferences in Policy Design

In the face of rising congestion on the nation's road system, policymakers have explored ways to reduce travel delays. One approach has been to allocate reserved lanes - called high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes - to vehicles carrying two or more people. A recent innovation is to allow solo drivers to use the HOV lanes if they pay a toll. These so-called high-occupancy-toll (HOT) lanes can be found in Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, and Minneapolis and are under consideration in several other urban areas. In this paper, we argue that HOV and HOT lanes sacrifice efficiency by failing to price all lanes. Moreover, we show that it is possible to set prices on all lanes that improve on the efficiency of HOV and HOT policies and by catering to motorists' varying preferences, can meet the test of political acceptability.

Discussing High-Occupancy Toll Lanes with the Denver, Colorado, Public

As managed lanes and high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes gain popularity as a potential mobility measure, the question of how the public views these relatively new concepts is of vital importance. Concerned that a potential conversion of the North I-25 high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) facility in Denver, Colorado, to HOT lanes could be perceived as too controversial, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) sponsored market research and public outreach and assessment for evaluating the level of controversy. The messaging, methodology, activities, and findings from this effort may provide valuable information for communities that are considering HOT lanes as a component to their mobility challenges. This paper outlines the efforts conducted by CDOT's project team, including focus groups with commuters and business owners, stakeholder outreach to vested public officials and interest groups, conversations with the public in varying open houses, and a stated preference telephone survey. The conclusions from this effort indicate that ( a) support for HOT lanes is greater than it was a few years earlier, ( b) issues related to income and equity are not as pronounced as anticipated, ( c) public opinion can be favorably affected when individuals are informed on means of avoiding tolls by carpooling or riding the bus, and ( d) HOT lanes are viewed as an interim solution that is only a component of a regional multimodal transportation system. For practitioners hoping to extend support for HOT lanes to their facilities, the principal finding indicates that comarketing the HOT lane option with a means of avoiding a toll (through carpooling or riding the bus) may favorably affect public acceptance.

Discussing High-Occupancy Toll Lanes with the Denver, Colorado, Public

As managed lanes and high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes gain popularity as a potential mobility measure, the question of how the public views these relatively new concepts is of vital importance. Concerned that a potential conversion of the North I-25 high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) facility in Denver, Colorado, to HOT lanes could be perceived as too controversial, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) sponsored market research and public outreach and assessment for evaluating the level of controversy. The messaging, methodology, activities, and findings from this effort may provide valuable information for communities that are considering HOT lanes as a component to their mobility challenges. This paper outlines the efforts conducted by CDOT's project team, including focus groups with commuters and business owners, stakeholder outreach to vested public officials and interest groups, conversations with the public in varying open houses, and a stated preference telephone survey. The conclusions from t...

Trade-Off for Road Pricing between Transportation Performance and Financial Feasibility

This study estimates the transportation performance and financial impacts of express toll (ET) lane and high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane concepts, with and without new bus rapid transit (BRT) service. Estimates are made for a prototypical suburban transportation corridor in a major metropolitan area with the use of the Spreadsheet Model for Induced Travel Estimation, Managed Lanes (SMITE-ML), which was enhanced to analyze the conventional build concept with no priced lanes. The analysis demonstrates that in a typical case a HOT alternative may mitigate congestion more cost-effectively than an ET alternative. Combining BRT with ET may make this alternative much more effective, perhaps more effective than a HOT alternative with no BRT. BRT increases the benefits and economic efficiency of both ET and HOT alternatives, but it reduces financial feasibility because of the need for public tax support for transit. ET alternatives tend to be more financially feasible than HOT alternatives primarily because of the additional revenues generated from tolls; under this alternative, HOVs are not exempt from tolls. These conclusions hold up for the case study corridor even under extreme assumptions with regard to demand elasticity and value of time.