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By Alec MacDonald
The adoption of the new RTP signaled a greenlight for the establishment of an 800-mile High-Occupancy/Toll (HOT) network, one of the plan’s most talked-about aspects.
Traversing all nine Bay Area counties, this network would expand upon existing High-Occupancy-Vehicle (HOV) lanes, where carpooling vehicles (those containing a minimum of two or in some cases three people) have the ability to bypass both traffic and bridge tolls. As the name indicates, HOT lanes would allow single drivers to share in this privilege for the price of a toll.
Money would be collected from these drivers via the automatic FasTrak system currently in use on the region’s toll bridges, and this revenue stream would cover the costs of developing and operating the lanes. Surplus revenue could be used for a variety of improvements along the lanes’ corridors.
Many transportation leaders feel that such market-based pricing will be the wave of the future, making freeways more efficient, easing congestion, and decreasing vehicle emissions — but this strategy has its detractors, too. Some fear that making driving a breezier experience in this manner will foster increased auto dependence at the expense of public transit and the environment, while others feel the system simply won’t work.
There may not be long to wait in finding out who’s right. Legislation in the form of Assembly Bill 744 (Torrico) is now being considered that would permit the Bay Area Toll Authority to create the network, and two lanes (on I-580 in the Livermore Valley, and on I-680 along the Sunol Grade between Pleasanton and Fremont) are already scheduled to open up late next year.
Visit http://www.mtc.ca.gov/planning/hov for updates and further information.