The problem with HOT
One of the major solutions being touted for the Washington metropolitan area is the construction of High-Occupancy/Toll lanes to replace the existing system of single-use High-Occupancy lanes around the region. Instead of restricting these lanes to carpools and buses, people would be able to pay a fee, which gets higher during rush hour and other times of congestion, to bypass the lanes' HOV requirement. Sounds good, right?Here's the problem. As this Washington Post article shows, a vast system of informal carpooling has already sprung up around the existing HOV system. Allowing people to pay tolls to bypass the HOV requirement could endanger this system.
"So what?" You might ask. "No one uses the carpool lanes anyway." Well, that's just not true. What's true is that fewer vehicles use the carpool lanes -- that's what makes them run so fast during rush hour. And in fact, while using fewer vehicles, according to VDOT statistics these lanes carry on average twice the number of passengers as the car-only lanes of 395 during rush hour. By taking more cars off the road, HOV lanes allow for a smoother ride for everyone.
Not only do HOV requirements act as the strongest incentive for carpooling, but they also act as a strong incentive for using express buses, which would otherwise be at the bottom of the public transportation food chain in terms of people's choices. When I lived in Springfield, I was able to ride the 18H Metrobus to the Pentagon in 30 minutes using the HOV lanes. The ride home took a little bit longer because HOV restrictions are lifted on part of the lanes toward the beltway. Expect similar delays if new traffic is added through tolls.
Unfortunately, these lanes are being supported by Democrats and Republicans alike, neither of whom are eager to raise taxes to solve our region's transportation problems. And as I wrote in an earlier post, HOT lanes can make sense for those stretches of roadway which are not yet built or are on existing toll corridors. But as one slugger in the post article put it, "I really hate to see someone messing with a system that works." Hear, hear.
posted by Omar @ 8:17 PM
1 Comments:
Until someone actually counts how many "sluggeres' there are, they need to leave the HOV lanes alone. HOT lanes would make the slug lines disappear. I agree with the HOV 3 requirement having communted to C from Northern VA for a year, it made me pick up sluggers so I could use the HOV 3 395 lane. I could get to DC in 20 minutes once I loaded up mt two sluggers.Many times these "improvements" are simply to give the appearance of doing something about traffic problems in Northern Virginia.
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