Fluor Virginia and Transurban Development Inc. have proposed converting the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane running down Interstate 95 in Northern Virginia into a variable-pricing toll lane. The public-private partnership would collect tolls from motorists wanting a fast lane around traffic congestion but would allow carpoolers to use the lanes for free, as they do now. Sounds good in theory. But how do you tell the difference between cars with a single passenger and cars with multiple passengers?
That was the critical question asked by people attending the first public hearing on the proposal, in which Fluor-Transurban also would extend the HOT lanes 28 miles to the south and invest in Bus Rapid Transit along the corridor. Remarkably, Virginia Department of Transportation officials had no clear answer.
Reports Lillian Kafka with the Manassas Journal-Messenger:
How electronic tollbooths would differentiate between high occupancy vehicles and ones that should pay the toll is unclear. Toll booths deduct money from prepaid devices as cars pass through at constant speeds. Marsheela Hines of Dale City pressed [senior VDOT official Dennis] Morrison on the issue.
“We don’t have the right answer for that,” he said.
“This is a lynchpin issue,” said Steve Walters of Dumfries. “You can’t move forward without this technology.”
A VDOT engineer said Fluor, which operates toll roads around the world, was still working on developing that technology.
Sounds like a core issue: Will the HOT lanes enable carpoolers to ride for free or not? Fluor and VDOT had better figure out the answer.