Also from the Republic today...
Quote:
Toll lanes suggested for Valley freeways
Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 7, 2007 12:00 AM
Tired of watching traffic zip by you in the carpool lane? You could be there, driving solo in the rush-hour traffic, for a fee.
A state lawmaker wants to turn the carpool lanes on Interstate 17 through Phoenix, and potentially other Arizona highways, into high-occupancy toll lanes that would allow drivers to pay to slash time from their morning and evening commutes.
The lanes would remain free to carpools, and the tolls would be collected electronically.
The proposal could change the philosophy of high-occupancy-vehicle lanes from exclusively encouraging carpooling to providing a faster way for solo drivers to get where they're going.
The concept is called HOT lanes, for high-occupancy toll, an idea that has gained ground in congested areas in California and is being promoted by the federal government.
Ron Gould, chairman of the state Senate Transportation Committee, said he thinks the idea is worth exploring in Arizona, where urban drivers spend dozens of hours each year caught in rush-hour traffic. U.S. census data indicate that Phoenix-area drivers spend about 26 hours in congestion each year at a cost of $431 per person, a state Senate analyst said.
"We have road needs, and this is an inexpensive way to pay for it," said Gould, a Lake Havasu City Republican.
His proposal, Senate Bill 1585, would have state highway officials seek bids by November 2012 from private companies to convert I-17's carpool lanes into HOT lanes.
The lanes stretch from Loop 101 in north Phoenix to just north of Interstate 10 near downtown.
The Arizona Department of Transportation also would have the option of seeking bids to transform other carpool lanes.
The proposal hit some speed bumps during its first airing in Gould's committee, and a vote was postponed until after committee members receive a more detailed briefing next week. One concern was whether fees should be collected on any highways in Arizona.
"HOT lane sounds a little sexy," said a skeptical Sen. Robert Blendu, R-Litchfield Park, who objected to having to pay twice for roads already financed by taxpayer money. "It's a pay lane, isn't it?"
Indeed it is, but Gould said it also is a way to move more cars without draining the state budget.
Other toll proposals
It's the second time in a week that the concept of tolls has been raised at the Capitol. And Tuesday's discussion came one day after President Bush proposed a national "congestion initiative."
Among other things, it would award $130 million in grants to help cities and states build electronic toll systems that would charge drivers fees for traveling in and out of big cities during peak traffic times.
In Arizona last week, Sen. Jay Tibshraeny, R-Chandler, introduced a bill to create public highway authorities, essentially public-private collaborations that would build new roads and pay for them with tolls.
Unlike Gould's proposal, Tibshraeny's plan would collect tolls only for the construction of new roads and highways.
Cost-effective approach
Gould pointed to a study ADOT had done of Arizona 51, the Piestewa Freeway, that concluded that HOT lanes are the most cost-effective way to increase capacity. But ADOT officials, who are neutral on the proposal, said there are some problems with using I-17 as a HOT lane.
"As you know, there's not a whole lot of room on I-17 anymore," said Kevin Biesty, ADOT's lobbyist. It's so cramped there may not be room for the transponders and other equipment used to collect tolls electronically.
Also, the I-17 carpool lane doesn't connect to I-10.
Motorists using that lane have to cross over multiple lanes of traffic to switch onto I-10 westbound to Los Angeles or eastbound through central Phoenix.
Gould said he picked that congested corridor simply because he drives it daily and he is aware of its problems. But he said he is considering changing his bill to make Arizona 51 the subject of the trial program, rather than I-17.
And, he acknowledged, the carpool lane is not always clear sailing.
"At times it's free-flowing and at times it's pretty full," he said.
A matter of timing
Highway officials studied HOT lanes earlier this decade and concluded the time was not right to make the switch from carpools to pay-per-drive.
"We have to make sure they (HOV lanes) don't get so congested that the traveler time savings of being in the lane don't go away," said Eric Anderson, transportation manager for the Maricopa Association of Governments, which does Valley freeway planning.
HOT lanes also change the basic idea on which carpool lanes were built, which was to get people to double up in cars in the name of reducing congestion and air pollution.
Studies have shown that the more congested a road, the more enticing the carpool lane becomes.
That means it takes congestion to create a carpool.
But Gould said he'd rather give motorists the option of paying for a faster commute than waiting until a road gets so crowded that motorists feel forced into a carpool.
And, as Sen. Pamela Gorman, R-Anthem, noted, many people flout the carpool-lane rules and drive solo already.
Gould said he is betting those motorists would rather pay a fee to use the lane legally than the fine that comes with a carpool violation.
The bill will be heard next Tuesday before the Transportation Committee. Gould also has invited representatives of the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank, to make a presentation on toll roads and HOT lanes.
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In general, I think this is a bad idea. I won't get into the whole "regressive tax / unfair advantage for the wealthy over the poor" thing, but in general, the idea of HOT lanes is basically saying "instead of looking at alternatives, let's do what we can to make it easier for people to keep driving their cars by themselves."
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