The HOT lane proposal for Interstates 395/95 is moving ahead. The Virginia Department of Transportation has signed an interim agreement with Fluor Virginia and Transurban USA, agreeing to split the $53 million cost of the engineering/study phase.
Fluor/Transurban propose adding a third lane to the existing HOV corridor that would allow high-occupancy vehicles to drive free and charge variable, time-of-day tolls for other drivers. Additionally, the original proposal called for building six park-and-ride lots and upgrading 12 bus stations.
The state is taking a risk, observes Kelly Hannon with the Free Lance-Star, because there’s no guarantee that the detailed study will show the project to be economical. In 2003, Fluor/Transurban estimated a cost of $913 million, but there has been considerable inflation in the construction sector since then. Studies for the two legs of the project should wrap up by early 2009.
Meanwhile, with a hat tip to blogger Jon Baliles, Trucker.com is reporting: “Utah has opened its first fee-for-service highway by allowing a limited number of solo drivers to use carpool lanes on Interstate 15 for a monthly $50 fee. The initial offering of 600 passes is sold out.”
The monthly subscription approach is an approach to congestion pricing that I have not seen discussed in Virginia.
