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June 2004
HOT lane experts share evaluation findings, inform I-394 planning
John Berg
Ed Sullivan
Janusz Supernak
Mark Burris
The fifth installation of high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes worldwide will open on I-394 in the Twin Cities later this year. Experts from three of the other HOT lane sites gathered in Minneapolis on April 23 to share their evaluation findings and help inform Minnesota's approach to I-394. The HOT Lane Evaluation Roundtable was sponsored by CTS and the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and was attended by a range of key policymakers, including Mn/DOT deputy commissioner Doug Differt and Metropolitan Council chair Peter Bell.
After welcoming remarks by CTS director Robert Johns, event moderator Ken Buckeye, program manager with Mn/DOT's Office of Investment Management, opened the discussion by noting that Minnesota can already claim success in road pricing. Pricing is not a silver bullet to solve our transportation problems, he said, but it is one we need to try. It is supported by state leaders such as Gov. Tim Pawlenty and is clearly "on the radar of a broader audience."
He then introduced John Berg, former team leader with the FHWA's Congestion Pricing Pilot Program and Value Pricing Pilot Program, who set the framework for the event. Berg said Minnesota's project is well within the normal range of project timeframes (roughly ten years) from planning to opening. This time—for design work, public relations, and development of an effective monitoring and evaluation program—is time well spent. "The role of evaluation cannot be emphasized enough," he said. There are a number of audiences for a monitoring and evaluation program, not the least of which are the users of the priced lanes and the unpriced lanes. Officials here and in other cities also will be following what we do.
Berg was followed by presentations from three evaluators of existing HOT lanes.
SR 91, Orange County, Calif.
The SR 91 site is a four-lane toll facility in the median of an eight-lane freeway near Anaheim, said Ed Sullivan, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, California Polytechnic State University. Through electronic collection, users of the 16-kilometer express lanes pay time-dependent tolls reflecting demand. Enabling state legislation set the seeds for the program in the late 1980s; the lanes opened in late 1995, and tolls have been increased seven times since then to maintain flow. The site was constructed and operated by a private company under franchise agreement with the state until January 2003, when a state agency assumed control.
Citing "a crowded dinner plate of things to look at," Sullivan then reviewed a number of findings from the SR 91 evaluation:
- Traffic capacity increased significantly and congestion decreased. But congestion returned "big time" in less than five years, Sullivan said, in part due to a new connecting route.
- Traffic peaks were flattened—weakly—in response to tolls, more so in the morning.
- Commuters typically overestimate time saved by 5 to 30 minutes.
- The "vast majority of folks" are inconsistent in use of toll roads—in other words, they do not use the lanes every day.
- Some users cite driving comfort and safety to justify the toll when time savings are minimal.
- A significant percentage (about 18 percent) do not pay the toll themselves and are using an employer's transponder.
- There didn't seem to be a diversion from or to public transit, and HOV users were more likely to use the toll lanes.
- Both income and education correlate positively with use; middle-income groups seem most affected by toll increases. But many frequent users are low-income, and many high-income commuters are infrequent or nonusers. "Income is indeed a factor," Sullivan said, "but the charge that it is only good for the rich is bogus."
- Gender strongly correlates with toll lane use, with 10 percent greater use by women.
- Overall, public approval of toll financing was high, and toll payers expressed higher approval of variable tolls than did nonpayers.
- Emissions were generally higher than on a comparable non-tolled freeway expansion because of the many vehicles operating at higher speeds.
In retrospect, SR 91 was a very successful project on many dimensions, Sullivan said. It was profitable, established an open mind toward market-based road pricing, and showed that people will respond to pricing. Increasing transportation choices through pricing has succeeded in California and merits consideration elsewhere, he concluded.
I-15, San Diego
I-15 began as a three-year demonstration program to allow solo drivers to use existing high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes for a fee, said Janusz Supernak, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, San Diego State University. The enabling state legislation for the eight-mile stretch required that all revenues be used to improve transit in the corridor; the program has generally been profitable, and a new express bus service was initiated with the proceeds.
Begun in late 1996, the first phase of the program charged a flat monthly fee (initially $50) for unlimited use of HOV lanes. The second phase, known as FasTrak, uses transponders to collect tolls ranging from 50 cents to $4.00 based on demand. The number of transponders has grown from 5,000 in 1998 to 26,000 today, confirming that the program is more and more popular, Supernak said. The program was extended indefinitely in January 2002. Some evaluation results:
- Peak period utilization was flattened with FasTrak but not with the flat fee.
- Travelers don't think of average travel time but rather the reliability of on-time arrival.
- Express lanes are substantially better utilized than before.
- Neither system affected carpool volumes, which are 13 percent higher than at the program's beginning.
- The new bus service saw a steady increase in ridership, but less than expected.
- Air quality showed higher emissions due to increased speeds and volumes.
- Safety was viewed as a key benefit.
- Customers were affluent, educated, and primarily women. Equity did not emerge as an issue.
- Ninety percent of participants paid from their own pockets.
- Although average travel time fell by only 4 to 6 minutes, participants believed they saved about 20 minutes per trip. They thought pricing was fair and liked having a new option.
With freeflowing conditions 99 percent of the time, FasTrak provides a key safety net to combat congestion when an important trip is at stake, Supernak said. And because virtually anyone can subscribe, the system is perceived as non-elitist.
I-10 and US-290, Houston
Calling Minnesota a "worldwide stage," Mark Burris of the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M stressed that evaluation is important to determine if a program is the best—or even a wise—investment of public funds, as well as to pave the way for support of future projects.
Opened in 1984 and since expanded, Houston's I-10 HOT lanes became congested when two-person carpools went free, but were underutilized when three-plus carpools were required. The solution was to use the market to regulate demand, so the system now allows two-person carpools to use HOV lanes during peak hours for a $2 toll. Some evaluation findings:
- Most users don't use their transponders very frequently: perhaps once a week or every other week, on days when they're pressed for time.
- HOT lanes are nearly free flow. "It's an issue of reliability—people value that," Burris said.
- Weighted time savings are about 17 minutes per trip, although as in California, people thought they were saving even more.
Overall, Burris concluded, HOT lanes offer additional choices.
In the event's closing remarks, Lee Munnich, director of the Humphrey Institute's State and Local Policy Program (SLPP), noted that "none of this could have happened without a very innovative federal program" that funded pilot projects, including education/outreach efforts at the Humphrey Institute.
The PowerPoint presentations for the roundtable are on the SLPP's Value Pricing Web site in the "Minnesota project update" section.