Metro Phoenix High Occupancy Toll (hot) Lanes Survey PDF Download

Author: Behavior Research Center
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Express highways
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Author: Melissa Archer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : High occupancy vehicle lanes
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Managed Lanes (MLs) have been increasingly advocated as a way to reduce congestion. This study provides an innovative new tolling strategy for MLs called the travel time refund (TTR). The TTR is an "insurance" that ensures the ML user will arrive to their destination within a specified travel time savings, at an additional fee to the toll. If the user fails to arrive to their destination, the user is refunded the toll amount. To gauge interest in the TTR, a stated preference survey was developed and distributed throughout the Phoenix-metropolitan area. Over 2,200 responses were gathered with about 805 being completed. Exploratory data analysis of the data included a descriptive analysis regarding individual and household demographic variables, HOV usage and satisfaction levels, HOT usage and interests, and TTR interests. Cross-tabulation analysis is further conducted to examine trends and correlations between variables, if any. Because most survey takers were in Arizona, the majority (53%) of respondents were unfamiliar with HOT lanes and their practices. This may have had an impact on the interest in the TTR, although it was not apparent when looking at the cross-tabulation between HOT knowledge and TTR interest. The concept of the HOT lane and "paying to travel" itself may have turned people away from the TTR option. Therefore, similar surveys implementing new HOT pricing strategies should be deployed where current HOT practices are already in existence. Moreover, introducing the TTR concept to current HOT users may also receive valuable feedback in its future deployment. Further analysis will include the weighting of data to account for sample bias, an exploration of the stated preference scenarios to determine what factors were significant in peoples choices, and a predictive model of those choices based on demographic information.

Author: Katie S. Smith
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Traffic engineering
Languages : en
Pages :

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The conversion of high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes is currently being implemented in metro Atlanta on a demonstration basis and is under consideration for more widespread adoption throughout the metro region. Further conversion of HOV lanes to HOT lanes is a major policy decision that depends on knowledge of the likely impacts, including the equity of the new HOT lane. Rather than estimating these impacts using modeling or surveys, this study collects revealed preference data in the form of observed vehicle license plate data and vehicle occupancy data from users of the HOV corridor. Building on a methodology created in Spring 2011, researchers created a new methodology for matching license plate data to vehicle occupancy data that required extensive post-processing of the data. The new methodology also presented an opportunity to take an in-depth look at errors in both occupancy and license plate data (in terms of data collection efforts, processing, and the vehicle registration database).

Author: Brennan Kidd
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Express highways
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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The findings of the study are two-fold: the results of what forms of multi-modal travel are used by other states and the results of the case study. Many states employ or are planning high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes (of all forms/types, but primarily of the concurrent flow variety) for use in urban freeway settings. High occupancy/toll (HOT) lanes were in the planning stages according to about half of the survey respondents while bus rapid transit (BRT) was being considered by two-thirds of the departments responding. Light rail transit (LRT) was only listed in 33% of the responses as being currently in use. HOT Lanes, Exclusive-Use Lanes, By-pass/Separation Lanes, Dual Facilities, and LRT had the highest number of responses for not being used as a multi-modal application within a freeway corridor. The SR 51 case study relied on existing data, modeled situations, and cost estimates to determine the most cost effective choice for multi-modal travel. Existing volume data was provided by Arizona Department of Transportation's Freeway Management System (FMS) and supplemented by a microsimulation study previously conducted for the Arizona Department of Transportation concerning the operations of the existing HOV lanes. Cost data was coalesced from literature review material and transportation data sources exclusive to Arizona. The computations factored in traffic flows under different freeway scenarios depicting different forms of multi-modal travel that would be reasonable for the SR 51 freeway. The results, ranked from most cost-effective to least cost-effective, are as follows (Note: "GP" refers to general purpose lane, and the ranges of cost values are due to different calculation methods for the projected volume by mode): (1) HOT Lane ($0.012 to $0.027 per person-mile) (2) Fourth GP Lane ($0.019 to $0.042 per person-mile) (3) HOV (w/BRT) Lane ($0.026 to $0.057 per person-mile) (existing condition) (4) Exclusive BRT Lane ($0.066 to $0.147 per person-mile) (5) Light Rail Transit ($0.161 to $0.358 per person-mile).

Author: Justice Appiah
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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In recent years, high occupancy/toll (HOT) lanes have gained increasing recognition as a potential method of managing traffic congestion. HOT lanes combine pricing and vehicle occupancy restrictions to optimize the demand for high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. Besides having all the advantages of traditional HOV lanes, HOT lanes can also generate revenue to help finance various operation and maintenance programs. At present there are four fairly well established HOT lane projects in the United States: two in Houston, Texas, and one each in San Diego, and Riverside County, California. After 6 years in operation, Houston's HOT lanes receive comparatively lower patronage than the two California projects. An understanding of why people choose to use HOT lanes will be vital to improving the performance of existing HOT facilities and will also shed light on policy decisions regarding future HOT lane investments. This study examined the relative importance of different parameters which could be expected to influence the demand for HOT lanes using standard statistical and discrete choice modeling techniques on survey data from Houston's HOT lane users. The study showed that, controlling for other variables, trip length, the driver's perception of travel time savings offered by the HOT lanes, frequency of travel in the freeway corridor, trip purpose, and the amount of time spent on carpool formation were good predictors of HOT lane usage. Socioeconomic characteristics such as age and level of education were also good indicators of the frequency of HOT lane usage whereas household size, occupation, and hourly wage rate were not. Gender and annual household income were only loosely related to HOT lane usage. Inelastic responses to minor changes in the toll coupled by responses to a question regarding participants feeling towards the $2.00 toll, suggested that the toll was not a major deterrent to HOT lane usage. A primary deterrent was the need for one passenger to use the HOT lane when free use required two passengers. However, travelers who shared the toll with their carpool partners were likely to have made more frequent HOT lane trips than those who bore the entire cost.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : High occupancy vehicle lanes
Languages : en
Pages : 76

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The intent of this study is to explore the planning, design, and ongoing operation and maintenance of HOT facilities and to provide lessons learned and applicable technical guidance that will assist the state and local transportation planners and designers in determining the conditions where HOV conversion to HOT lanes is feasible. The study reviewed a broad range of operational HOT facilities from having been operational many years to recently being opened. The study reviewed the activities of each in the planning, design, implementation and operations with special attention given to institutional, design, and operational challenges. The guidebook provides a summary of the best practices and lessons learned from those HOT facilities currently in operation. The result is "Best Practices Top 20" list that evolved as each of the facilities learned or re-learned what other HOT facilities had previously learned. The result was a re-occurring list of "to do"s and what "not to do" to minimize issues during the HOV to HOT transition process.

Author: Linda M. Spock
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
ISBN: 9780309068161
Category : Roads
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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This synthesis will be of interest to administrative and financial officials of toll authorities, as well as members of the governing boards of these agencies. It will also be of interest to state departments of transportation and to legislators who are exploring innovative methods for financing major highway facilities. This synthesis also provides useful information for bonding and other financial institutions. It presents information on the current tolling policies and practices employed by highway, bridge, and tunnel tolling authorities throughout the United States. This report of the Transportation Research Board presents a profile of the traditions, pricing practices, and operational aspects of the tolling industry. Based on information derived from survey responses from 41 toll organizations, representing over 90% of annual U.S. toll transactions, the research for the synthesis indicates that the tolling industry employs a wide range of policies and practices, including many innovative approaches, used in response to the need to provide improved highway facilities. Case studies of several selected innovative tolling practices are discussed: variable/congestion pricing; high- occupancy toll, or HOT lanes; public-private partnerships; interagency partnerships; and others such as state infrastructure banks (SIBs), shared resource agreements, and transportation utility fees. Detailed information on the experience of states with privatization of highway facilities is also presented. A unique summary of the future issues to be addressed in the tolling industry as gleaned from the survey concludes the document.

Author: Rahul Goel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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High-Occupancy toll (HOT) lanes allow lower-occupant vehicles (LOVs) to use a HOV lane for a fee, while maintaining free travel to qualifying HOVs. HOT lanes are gaining interest throughout the country as a strategy for meeting multiple performance objectives in congested urban freeway corridors. Currently there are ten fully operational HOT lanes around the country in seven different states and this research examined the nine of them (excluding I-35 W). Even with only a handful of operational HOT lane projects, there is great diversity in terms of HOT lane design and operations. With HOT lane implementation there are many issues, including: toll rates, vehicle occupancy requirement, number of access points, and safety. This research examined (i) the different factors which lead to the development of the HOT lanes in their respective corridors (ii) the objectives of the HOT lanes (iii) changes made in the corridor due to HOT lane implementation (iv) the different impacts of the HOT lanes and (v) the extent to which the objectives of the HOT lanes were achieved. Using three pairs of HOT lanes with similar design and operational characteristics, comparisons were made to examine the impacts of the similar HOT lanes in two different corridors. With the strict registration requirement for HOV3+ on the I-95 Express Lanes there were indications that some carpoolers broke up in to lower occupancy vehicles. Tolled access for HOV2s on I-95 as well as the SR 91 Express Lanes resulted in lower usage of the Express Lanes by the HOV2s (fewer than 30 percent of the total corridor HOV2s) as compared to a conventional HOV lane (60 percent) where HOV2 access is free. The effect of availability of transit on the HOT lanes can also be seen from SR 91 as compared to I-95. On SR 91, the Express bus does not use the Express Lanes and there was almost no change in its ridership after the Express Lanes were implemented. However, on I-95, the Express bus uses the Express Lanes and travel time of buses decreased by 17 minutes due to Express Lanes implementation. The Express bus ridership also increased by 30 percent. On the SR167 and I-25 HOT lanes, the exogenous factors like gas prices and economic recession seemed to influence the usage of the HOT lanes. In both the HOT Lanes, carpool usage was positively correlated to the gasoline prices. On I-25, the increasing unemployment rate coincided with the decreasing toll paying travelers. On SR 167 there were also indications of mode shifts among the transit, carpool and toll paying SOVs due to fluctuating gas prices. With declining gas prices, the transit and carpool usage went down while toll paying users increased. An inverse relationship between the convenience of access points and the safety perceived by the HOT lane users was found. For example, I-15 Express Lanes in Salt Lake City reduced the access points from unrestricted with the previous HOV lanes to limited with the Express Lanes. As a result, more predictable merging led to an increase in the perceived safety of the Express lanes as well as the speed of the corridor. On the other hand, some carpoolers mentioned not using the Express Lanes anymore because of access inconvenience. The access inconvenience was also mentioned by previous carpoolers in HOV lanes on I-95 as one of the reasons for not using the Express Lanes. These findings underscore the importance of outreach programs during the planning process of the HOT lanes to minimize the confusion among the previous users of the HOV lanes and spreading awareness among them regarding the increased safety benefits.

Author: Lei Xu
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Since the 1960's, high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes have been successfully used as a travel demand management technique. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes as an alternative to HOV lanes to help manage the increasing demand for travel. HOT lanes combine pricing and vehicle occupancy restrictions to optimize the demand for HOV lanes. As two of the four HOT lanes in the world, the HOT lane facilities in Houston, Texas received relatively low patronage after operating for over 6 years on the Katy Freeway and over 4 years on the Northwest Freeway. There existed an opportunity to increase the usage of these HOT lanes by allowing single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) travelers to use the lanes, for an appropriate toll. The potential SOV demand for HOV lane use during the off-peakperiods from the Katy Freeway and Northwest Freeway general-purpose lane (GPL) travelers was estimated in this study by using the data collected from a 2003 survey of travelers on the Katy and Northwest Freeway GPLs who were not enrolled in QuickRide. Based on survey results, more travelers would choose to drive on the HOT lanes as SOV travelers during the off-peak periods when the facilities provided higher travel time savings and charged lower tolls. Two important factors influencing travelers' use of the HOV lanes were their value of travel time savings (VTTS) and penalty for changing travel schedule (VPCS). It was found that respondents had VTTS approximately 43 percent of their hourly wage rate and VPCS approximately 3 percent of their hourly wage rate. Combining this information with current travel time savings and available capacity on the HOV lanes, it was found that approximately 2000 SOV travelers per day would pay an average toll of $2.25 to use the HOV lanes during the off-peak periods.

Author:
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
ISBN: 9780309062145
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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The conference was organized as a national forum to provide information on new approaches to financing all modes of transportation, to share success stories, and to stimulate discussion on the merits and drawbacks of new techniques, which are known collectively as innovative finance. Innovative finance in transportation is a diversified set of public- and private-sector actions that move beyond the traditional federal-aid and state-aid funding processes. Nearly 500 federal, state, and local government officials and private-sector representatives attended the conference. Conference participants grappled with the growing inadequacy of traditional funding sources and how to find new means to finance the continued maintenance and improvement of the nation's transportation infrastructure.