Chief
12-13-2007, 04:16 PM
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/228388.html
JOSEPH TURNER; The News Tribune
Published: December 13th, 2007 01:00 AM
Buying your way into the car-pool lanes on Highway 167 next year probably will cost as little as 50 cents when traffic is fairly light to as much as $9 when traffic is at its worst.
Washington Transportation commissioners signaled their intent Wednesday to set tolls for solo drivers in that range, but they’ll hold a meeting next month to get public feedback.
They plan to finalize the toll range in February, but their lawyer warned them that the Legislature might have to approve the tolls before they take effect. Initiative 960, which was passed by voters last month, sets a procedure for raising fees and taxes, and it might apply to the Transportation Commission’s toll-setting authority.
State highway officials plan to open High Occupancy Toll lanes between Auburn and Kent next spring. The four-year pilot program will allow solo drivers to pay to drive in the less-congested bus and car-pool lanes. The toll will vary depending on the speed of traffic and the time of day.
The state Department of Transportation plans to operate the HOT lanes between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. seven days a week. But the commission gave DOT staff members the flexibility to impose the tolls at whatever times they think it would make a difference on traffic flow. That means the tolls could come off after 8 p.m., for instance.
The debate among commissioners was whether to set the maximum toll at $7 or $12.
Commissioner Bob Distler of Orcas Island wanted the higher amount to ensure the car-pool lanes would remain open to solo drivers. The DOT plans to close the lanes to non-carpoolers if the average speed drops below 45 mph.
If the maximum toll was only $7, too many solo drivers might overload the car-pool lanes and the DOT would then not allow anyone but buses, van pools and motorcycles to use the lanes.
“If we got to the point where we shut down the HOT lanes right when people need them, to me that’s just crazy,” Distler said.
Commissioner Dale Stedman of Spokane worried about the public reaction to a $12 toll.
“I don’t want it so high that it discourages people from using it,” he said.
Commissioner Dick Ford of King County said that will sort itself out when the tolls go into effect.
“If they don’t want to pay $12, then they’ll stay where they are today,” he said, referring to the general traffic lanes.
Ford later proposed the $9 maximum toll as a compromise.
Craig Stone, a DOT deputy administrator who is overseeing the HOT lane project, said the maximum toll might be in effect for only five minutes a day, probably in the southbound HOV lane between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.
Consultants predict the toll will be only 50 cents on northbound Highway 167 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. and will average about $2 per trip in those lanes between 5:30 a.m. and 8 a.m.
In the southbound lanes, the toll is expected to be 50 cents until about 2:30 p.m., rising to an average of $1.75 between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
The worst traffic, and the highest toll, would be between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., when it would average $5. That’s also when it would hit the peak of $9.
Those are only estimates. The actual tolls would vary based on traffic flow at any given time. One of the things highway officials hope to learn from the pilot project is just how much people would be willing to pay for a quicker trip.
Stone said the capacity of the car-pool lanes is 1,600 vehicles per hour. Commuter traffic builds to about 1,200 an hour at 5 a.m. The DOT is “selling” space for the 400 additional vehicles thereafter to make the most of the lane, he said.
Average daily traffic on Highway 167 is about 110,000. DOT consultants predict 6,500 to 7,000 of those drivers would buy their way into the car-pool lanes.
The northbound HOT lane will run 12 miles from 15th Street Southwest in Auburn to Interstate 405, and southbound nine miles from I-405 to about South 288th Street. A nine-mile extension of the southbound car-pool lane on Highway 167 is slated for 2009-11 and that might later become part of the HOT lane corridor.
The HOT lanes are expected to open between April and June.
Joseph Turner: 253-597-8436
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com
JOSEPH TURNER; The News Tribune
Published: December 13th, 2007 01:00 AM
Buying your way into the car-pool lanes on Highway 167 next year probably will cost as little as 50 cents when traffic is fairly light to as much as $9 when traffic is at its worst.
Washington Transportation commissioners signaled their intent Wednesday to set tolls for solo drivers in that range, but they’ll hold a meeting next month to get public feedback.
They plan to finalize the toll range in February, but their lawyer warned them that the Legislature might have to approve the tolls before they take effect. Initiative 960, which was passed by voters last month, sets a procedure for raising fees and taxes, and it might apply to the Transportation Commission’s toll-setting authority.
State highway officials plan to open High Occupancy Toll lanes between Auburn and Kent next spring. The four-year pilot program will allow solo drivers to pay to drive in the less-congested bus and car-pool lanes. The toll will vary depending on the speed of traffic and the time of day.
The state Department of Transportation plans to operate the HOT lanes between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. seven days a week. But the commission gave DOT staff members the flexibility to impose the tolls at whatever times they think it would make a difference on traffic flow. That means the tolls could come off after 8 p.m., for instance.
The debate among commissioners was whether to set the maximum toll at $7 or $12.
Commissioner Bob Distler of Orcas Island wanted the higher amount to ensure the car-pool lanes would remain open to solo drivers. The DOT plans to close the lanes to non-carpoolers if the average speed drops below 45 mph.
If the maximum toll was only $7, too many solo drivers might overload the car-pool lanes and the DOT would then not allow anyone but buses, van pools and motorcycles to use the lanes.
“If we got to the point where we shut down the HOT lanes right when people need them, to me that’s just crazy,” Distler said.
Commissioner Dale Stedman of Spokane worried about the public reaction to a $12 toll.
“I don’t want it so high that it discourages people from using it,” he said.
Commissioner Dick Ford of King County said that will sort itself out when the tolls go into effect.
“If they don’t want to pay $12, then they’ll stay where they are today,” he said, referring to the general traffic lanes.
Ford later proposed the $9 maximum toll as a compromise.
Craig Stone, a DOT deputy administrator who is overseeing the HOT lane project, said the maximum toll might be in effect for only five minutes a day, probably in the southbound HOV lane between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays.
Consultants predict the toll will be only 50 cents on northbound Highway 167 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. and will average about $2 per trip in those lanes between 5:30 a.m. and 8 a.m.
In the southbound lanes, the toll is expected to be 50 cents until about 2:30 p.m., rising to an average of $1.75 between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.
The worst traffic, and the highest toll, would be between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., when it would average $5. That’s also when it would hit the peak of $9.
Those are only estimates. The actual tolls would vary based on traffic flow at any given time. One of the things highway officials hope to learn from the pilot project is just how much people would be willing to pay for a quicker trip.
Stone said the capacity of the car-pool lanes is 1,600 vehicles per hour. Commuter traffic builds to about 1,200 an hour at 5 a.m. The DOT is “selling” space for the 400 additional vehicles thereafter to make the most of the lane, he said.
Average daily traffic on Highway 167 is about 110,000. DOT consultants predict 6,500 to 7,000 of those drivers would buy their way into the car-pool lanes.
The northbound HOT lane will run 12 miles from 15th Street Southwest in Auburn to Interstate 405, and southbound nine miles from I-405 to about South 288th Street. A nine-mile extension of the southbound car-pool lane on Highway 167 is slated for 2009-11 and that might later become part of the HOT lane corridor.
The HOT lanes are expected to open between April and June.
Joseph Turner: 253-597-8436
joe.turner@thenewstribune.com