VALUEXPRESS LANES: AN ALTERNATIVE TO HOV/HOT

Traffic congestion is an all too familiar sight on many roadways. Several alternatives have been proposed, including simply building more lanes, adding High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, ramp metering, tolling the entire roadway, and so forth. The Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE) at North Carolina State University completed a study of congested roadways in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina in 1999. The study, which combined the principles of both free-market economics and traffic engineering, recommended adding efficient ValuExpress lanes to congested freeways or principal arterials. Under this concept, all vehicles using the optional ValuExpress lanes pay the same tool, regardless of the number of passengers. The tolls vary by time of day to coordinate supply and demand. The ValuExpress framework avoids the added enforcement costs of counting people faced by both HOV (high occupancy vehicle) and "HOT" (hight occupancy tool) lanes. In addition, the ValuExpress policy of full price for all vehicles provides a substantial financial incentive for people to carpool in order to reduce per-person toll expenses and affords a tremendous cost advantage to high-capacity buses and vans and encourages transit use.