hot lanes

Tolling is scheduled to begin in the two southbound express lanes on the far left side of FL/I-95 between the Golden Glades Interchange and downtown Miami Friday January 15 05:30. Tolls have been collected on two express lanes northbound in the afternoons since December 5 2008.

Minnesota is moving cautiously toward more road pricing following good results from price-managed lanes on I-394 and I-35W, radials to the west and south of Minneapolis. The lanes generically called HOT lanes provide free travel for carpools and transit vehicles and admit others for a toll that varies according to available surplus capacity.

TransCore has announced $81m worth of contracts with Houston METRO for conversion of five HOV corridors to HOT Lanes. Houston Metro board approved the contracts back on March 19 but we missed it.

Utah DOT awarded TransCore the toll systems contract for the I-15 HOT Lanes despite the fact that it was the highest cost of three competing proposers. Summary documents obtained after we first wrote show the the bids for the build part of the project were Telvent-Caseta $8.1m, ETC $10.7m, TransCore $11.3m.

TransCore have made their first sale of eZGo Anywhere transponders as part of a $16.3m contract to support tolls in HOT lanes on I-15 through Salt Lake City Utah.

TransCore have walked away with the Georgia I-85 HOT lanes toll system contract offering an open standard ISO 18000 6C GEN2 sticker tag based system for the first time, and at a rockbottom price. TransCore bid a mere $1,162,365 v $2,019,163 from Sirit, the established supplier of 6C gear.

Georgia State Road and Toll Authority (Georgia Toll) have begun procurement of new toll systems to be initially deployed on I-85 toll express lanes northeast of Atlanta but intended to replace those currently used on GA400, and to be a standard for tolling elsewhere in the state.

Virginia DOT says the I-95/395 HOT Lanes concession project will not go to financial close this month as planned because of difficult capital market conditions and the need for more analysis and negotiation of project details. The postponement is officially announced in a 2-page letter from VDOT chief engineer Malcolm Kerley to officials in northern Virginia.

A survey of toll express lanes users on I-394 showing a high level of satisfaction has been released by Minnesota DOT. 91% of those enrolled in the  'MnPASS' branded program expressed satisfaction.

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

Virginia's transportation commissioner Pierce Homer told us in a telephone interview he's very hopeful that the HOT lanes project on I-395 and I-95 from the Pentagon south toward Fredericksburg will prove viable, but he says it's not a sure thing.

LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is seeking information and qualifications for supply of toll systems, signage, customer service and transponders for 81 lane-miles (130 lane-km) of HOT lanes on I-10 and I-110, some of the busiest freeways in the country. Their official paid solicitation follows:

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Research in California shows that a common slip lane treatment for access/egress for HOV and HOT lanes is unsafe. The study, results of which are published in the Intellimotion newsletter, show significantly higher collision rates with limited access/egress in designated zones as opposed to continuous access/egress or lane changing at will.

The Illinois Tollway board voted today to implement the Governor Blagojevich's Congestion Relief Program, Phase Two which includes difficult "Green Lanes." The plan was announced by the Governor's office last month without any known feasibility study, and the Tollway has now taken on the job of making it work.

California's legislators left it right up until the deadline but when they finally voted it was with clear majorities to go with tolling on the busiest carpool lanes in the LA area. They get around $210m of federal funds originally reserved for New York City central area pricing. To be tolled under the plan are carpool lanes in the center of the I-10 and the I-110.

Illustrating what anti-toll politicians on Capitol Hill like House transport chair James Oberstar (Dem MN) are up against in trying to stem the tide of tolling, the major institutions of the San Francisco Bay Area this month have agreed, without any serious dissent, to progressively implement tolling on about 1270 lane-km (790 lane-miles) of high occupant vehicle (HOV) lanes on Bay Area expressways - or as they say over there - in the carpool lanes of area freeways.

Transurban, the major investors in the toll concession on the $1.4b project to widen the Capital Beltway (I-495) in Virginia to 12 lanes have gone to financial close June 12 on $589m of Private Activity Bonds. The 40-year tax exempt bonds are costing Transurban a weighted average interest of 4.97%, an improvement on the 5.35% when the initial steps in the financial close were reported in December.

Minnesota DOT is planning toll lanes on I-35W the major radial route heading south out of downtown Minneapolis two and a half years after successful introduction on I-394, the major western radial. The I-35W project has federal funding under the urban partnerships program but still needs to get the state match.