Editorial: HOT lanes offer promise of less highway congestion

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jul 27, 2008 | by editorial

THE BAY AREA suffers from the second worst traffic congestion in the nation, not far behind the legendary clogged freeway system in the Los Angeles area.

Finding a way out of the traffic morass as the population increases and highway and transit funds fail to keep pace has been a frustrating challenge for transportation officials.

But the latest plan put forth by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission has considerable promise for improving the traffic situation throughout the Bay Area.

The MTC proposes creating a $3.7 billion, 800-mile network of mixed carpool and toll lanes on at least 12 major freeways.

The concept is not new, but it has yet to be tried in the Bay Area. At the heart of the plan are High Occupancy Toll, or HOT lanes. These are carpool lanes that currently are open to cars with two or more passengers as well as buses.

The MTC plan calls for building more such lanes and converting them to HOT lanes. Single-occupancy vehicles also would be allowed to use the lanes if they pay a toll during commute hours.

This so-called congestion pricing gives drivers the option of carpooling or paying for a faster commute. The tolls would run from 20 cents to 60 cents a mile, depending on time and location.

Toll revenues would pay for construction of additional HOT lanes so that they would be available to motorists almost anywhere in the Bay Area. Today, carpool lanes often end near intersections and are missing altogether on many stretches of highway.

Perhaps even more important than building new HOT lanes, the MTC's plan would construct and improve key highway connectors throughout the Bay Area.

All too often today, traffic bottlenecks occur near intersections where there are not enough lanes to accommodate carpools.

Another part of the MTC plan is the creation of an express bus system that would significantly enhance mass transit in many parts of the Bay Area.

One of the major problems with bus transportation today is the lack of a continuous carpool or HOT-lane system. As a result, buses are forced to slow down to a crawl in many locations, especially at intersections of major highways.

Also, there are not enough express buses. Most of them make so many stops along their routes that they are not useful for longer commutes.

Express buses on a continuous HOT-lane system would be a great improvement and are likely to attract far more riders than they have today.

What makes HOT lanes feasible is the development of the electronic toll collection such as is used by FasTrak. Traditional toll booths would have been unworkable.

Adding 300 miles of HOT lanes to the current 500 miles of carpool lanes, along with improved intersections and express buses will require a new source of revenues, which are not likely to be coming from Sacramento or Washington anytime soon.

HOT-lane tolls, paid by those who benefit most, can provide the necessary funds without relying on the Legislature or Congress.

We will get a chance in late 2010 to see just how well HOT lanes work when they open on I-680 between Sunol and Fremont and along I- 580 in Dublin.

We believe that the HOT lanes will improve traffic flow and raise money for more improvements.

The concept already has the support of transportation officials, business leaders, environmentalists and, most important, Bay Area drivers.

It is time to move ahead on the MTC's plan with the full regional cooperation of all concerned.