HOV-to-HOT and new HOT lanes still eligible under STAA - USDOT official (CORRECTION)

A USDOT official says we misinterpreted the new surface transportation bill (STAA/2009) in reporting that authority for HOT lanes is discontinued.  Here http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4218

He writes: "Note that HOV to HOT conversions and new HOT lanes could continue to be eligible for tolling authority under the HOV program. That is Section 166 of Title 23 of the USC – SAFETEA-LU mainstreamed tolling authority for HOT lanes, and it is now encoded in Title 23, so we have been providing HOT lanes with tolling authority under Sec 166, not under the VPPP (Value Pricing Pilot Program)."

COMMENT: There appear to be different interpretations on this but we're happy to be corrected if we're wrong. These bills are difficult to understand without detailed knowledge of what they replace and modify, and even experts sometimes differ - editor.

TOLLROADSnews 2009-06-23