Northern Virginia HOT Lanes

[AlexandriaVA]

How many cars does spousepooling actually nudge off of the road though?

To put in another way, if you removed the HOV benefit to carpooling, I would suspect that many spousal partnerships would continue to carpool for reasons of familiarity, possible cost savings (particularly if one spouse can not have a own a car as a result) and marital bliss.

Of course, my hypothesis rests on the assumption of marital bliss. Being a bachelor, perhaps this is a dynamic I am misunderstanding 

[AlexandriaVA]

BTW, I-66 was severely underutilized when it was HOV-4. If memory serves, it was a year at most before it was changed to -3. Interesting thing on I-395 was that a fair amount of the carpooling and slugging groups didn't like the change to -3. I used to see the occasional "Restore HOV-4" bumper sticker.

Now that excess capacity can be sold off with the less-than-HOV toll option, isn't underutilization on HOT lanes moot?

[jeffandnicole]

How many cars does spousepooling actually nudge off of the road though?

To put in another way, if you removed the HOV benefit to carpooling, I would suspect that many spousal partnerships would continue to carpool for reasons of familiarity, possible cost savings (particularly if one spouse can not have a own a car as a result) and marital bliss.

Of course, my hypothesis rests on the assumption of marital bliss. Being a bachelor, perhaps this is a dynamic I am misunderstanding 

It probably definitely depends on the couple in question.  No doubt some may have to get to work an hour earlier or stay an hour later in order to make it work.  No doubt they have to commute a little out of their way, or take a longer walk than they otherwise would.

In my city of employment (where there's no HOanything), you can see the happy couples that commute together, and there's couples that drive separately. 

So, would couples drive together?  Often, there's little reason not to.  But there's probably reasons why they wouldn't either.

[cpzilliacus]

Now that excess capacity can be sold off with the less-than-HOV toll option, isn't underutilization on HOT lanes moot?

No, because I suspect that a lot of people are going to be angry about the elimination of the ability to drive their Prius and Honda Civic hybrid cars with one occupant, and more people mad about having to look for a third rider.  Going to HOV-4 might work fine in a place like Singapore, but not in Virginia.

HOV-3 is a good compromise. It provides a much higher average auto occupancy than is normally seen in the D.C. area, while generally still leaving some capacity that can be sold-off.

[AlexandriaVA]

Those issues have nothing to do with underutilization though, just HOV policy. In any context, people losing the hybrid exemption would be pissed, and people losing the "get one passenger and HOV it" would be pissed too.

In a non-HOT (i.e. traditional HOV setting), all of those people would be bumped out of the HOV lanes, and you'd wind up with a bunch of underutilized HOV lanes, people would complain to their elected officials, and they'd carve out enough exemptions to get the HOV lanes back to full-utilziation.

Now with HOT, you won't have the vast empty HOV lanes because that excess capacity will be sold off rather than left unused. So nobody will complain about "carpool lanes that nobody uses".

[1995hoo]

There are still people complaining about the "empty" HO/T lanes on the Beltway some four years in. The whole point of the variable rolling is to keep them from getting jammed–if they're congested (other than for a wreck), the system isn't working.

[jeffandnicole]

When EZ Pass first started, some people (we'll say, the ones paying cash) were complaining that the EZ Pass lanes were empty.  They should reduce the number of EZ Pass lanes so that those people had just as long of a line as cash payers.

Clearly, that wasn't the intention, and when EZ Pass lanes handle at least 4 times the number of vehicles that cash lanes handle, it's almost an impossible feat to keep those lanes as congested as the cash lanes.

Some people just don't get the fact that things are done to reduce/eliminate congestion.

[AlexandriaVA]

Yes, but to each individual, the only congestion they care about is the congestion directly affecting them. Aggregates have no meaning to them, whereas aggregates do have impacts on engineers,planners,politicians, etc

[cpzilliacus]

There are still people complaining about the "empty" HO/T lanes on the Beltway some four years in. The whole point of the variable rolling is to keep them from getting jammed–if they're congested (other than for a wreck), the system isn't working.

Oh, in the Transurban managed lanes on the Inner Loop north of Va. 267 (Toll Road), there is plenty of recurring and severe congestion (in some ways, rather like the I-95 managed lanes approaching Garrisonville).

[AlexandriaVA]

Why wouldn't there be? More cars in the HOT lanes means more $$$ for Transurban.

I don't see any sensible reason why Transurban would try to restrict toll-paying car volume in its lanes. That'd just be turning business away.

[cpzilliacus]

Those issues have nothing to do with underutilization though, just HOV policy. In any context, people losing the hybrid exemption would be pissed, and people losing the "get one passenger and HOV it" would be pissed too.

In a non-HOT (i.e. traditional HOV setting), all of those people would be bumped out of the HOV lanes, and you'd wind up with a bunch of underutilized HOV lanes, people would complain to their elected officials, and they'd carve out enough exemptions to get the HOV lanes back to full-utilziation.

Those exemptions (the Dulles Airport exemption (which was there from the start in 1982); HOV-3 to HOV-2; and most-recently the "Clean Fuel" tags) on I-66 (inside the Beltway) have made HOV much less attractive than it once was, because the lanes do not run nearly as fast as they would at free-flow.

Outside the Beltway, the problems are somewhat different, and caused in part by violators ducking into and out of the HOV lanes, and because drivers in Northern Virginia (unlike (for example) California) appear to be uncomfortable going fast next to traffic that is moving slowly or is at a complete stop.

Now with HOT, you won't have the vast empty HOV lanes because that excess capacity will be sold off rather than left unused. So nobody will complain about "carpool lanes that nobody uses".

Oh, people will still complain.

Even through Md. 200 (ICC) is now carrying plenty of traffic (and drivers of HOVs have never been granted free passage on Maryland's toll roads and toll crossings), there are those that claim that its lanes are "empty" (they are definitely not empty).

[AlexandriaVA]

Yeah, I think we agree. Weak-kneed State DOTs give in to suburban outcry and kill HOV by a thousand cuts (ironically, harming the people who went out of their way to work within the bounds of HOV standards).

The solution is to hand over the lanes to a private vendor who doesn't have to worry about reelection or department budgets and can give the middle finger to the general public (look at the Greenway's resolve in standing up to Del. Ramadan).

[1995hoo]

Why wouldn't there be? More cars in the HOT lanes means more $$$ for Transurban.

I don't see any sensible reason why Transurban would try to restrict toll-paying car volume in its lanes. That'd just be turning business away.

cpzilliacus and froggie probably know for sure, but I believe they're required to pay a financial penalty to the Commonwealth if speeds drop too much too often.

The issue at the north end isn't caused by Transurban but rather by the Beltway itself having fewer lanes once the express lanes end.

I use the lanes southbound twice a week on the way home (Monday and Friday; on the other days I use the Metro, though that may change during Surge 2 and it will change during Surges 3 and 4). At around 17:50 the toll from I-66 to Springfield is usually between $7.25 and $8.50. There's plenty of traffic in the lanes, enough to make passing difficult, but it typically moves at 70 mph while the "free" lanes are at a standstill. That says to me the HO/T system is working as it should, at least in that section.

[AlexandriaVA]

Why wouldn't there be? More cars in the HOT lanes means more $$$ for Transurban.

I don't see any sensible reason why Transurban would try to restrict toll-paying car volume in its lanes. That'd just be turning business away.

cpzilliacus and froggie probably know for sure, but I believe they're required to pay a financial penalty to the Commonwealth if speeds drop too much too often.

I'll be surprised if it ever comes to that. I have to assume there are force majeure elements of the contract that they'll exploit.

[cpzilliacus]

Why wouldn't there be? More cars in the HOT lanes means more $$$ for Transurban.

I don't see any sensible reason why Transurban would try to restrict toll-paying car volume in its lanes. That'd just be turning business away.

cpzilliacus and froggie probably know for sure, but I believe they're required to pay a financial penalty to the Commonwealth if speeds drop too much too often.

I do not know what the penalty is, but I do know that it is easy enough to tell what the speeds are now - with no help or assistance from Transurban required.

The issue at the north end isn't caused by Transurban but rather by the Beltway itself having fewer lanes once the express lanes end.

It was a very poor choice as a place for the managed lanes to end - and I realize that Maryland was not interested in working with Virginia (at least at the time) to run the managed lanes onto and north of the American Legion Bridge.

I use the lanes southbound twice a week on the way home (Monday and Friday; on the other days I use the Metro, though that may change during Surge 2 and it will change during Surges 3 and 4). At around 17:50 the toll from I-66 to Springfield is usually between $7.25 and $8.50. There's plenty of traffic in the lanes, enough to make passing difficult, but it typically moves at 70 mph while the "free" lanes are at a standstill. That says to me the HO/T system is working as it should, at least in that section.

Agreed.

[cpzilliacus]

WTOP Radio: I-66 toll contracts awarded, 1 nearly twice estimate

Plans toll single drivers traveling on Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway during the rush hour moved much closer to reality Tuesday with the award of two major contracts, including one that was far higher than what the Virginia Department of Transportation had estimated.

The construction contract awarded by the Commonwealth Transportation Board for new electronic toll gantries and signs came in at $33.7 million, nearly twice the $17.5 million projection from VDOT.

"We basically missed it, we blew the estimate,"  Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne said

[AlexandriaVA]

Looks like Fort Myer Construction can already cut their holiday bonus checks.

[cpzilliacus]

Looks like Fort Myer Construction can already cut their holiday bonus checks.

Maryland (in the form of SHA MDTA) has built many of those in recent times (the ICC, then the I-95 ETLs). 

Wonder if anyone at VDOT considered asking Maryland how much they paid for all-electronic tolling systems?

[AlexandriaVA]

And yet, people around here love to denouce Transurban for the fact of being a foreign company (at least the mouthbreathers on WTOP's comment section). As if it makes any difference where the tolling firm is incorporated. I guess the masses should be pleased that a local company will get a cut of the action this time.

[jeffandnicole]

WTOP Radio: I-66 toll contracts awarded, 1 nearly twice estimate

Plans toll single drivers traveling on Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway during the rush hour moved much closer to reality Tuesday with the award of two major contracts, including one that was far higher than what the Virginia Department of Transportation had estimated.

The construction contract awarded by the Commonwealth Transportation Board for new electronic toll gantries and signs came in at $33.7 million, nearly twice the $17.5 million projection from VDOT.

“We basically missed it, we blew the estimate,” Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne said

There's no reason why VDOT had to award that contract.  They could've thrown out the bids and gave the contract another look to see what could be removed to make the project cheaper.  A few million here or there isn't that big of a deal.  Doubling the expected amount is.  Sure, by doing so it delays the project a few months, but for $17 million, it's worth it.

I always hate to say something is fishy, because there's a lot that goes on that we don't know about.  But to just award the contract at twice its projected cost...yeah, that's fishy.

[cpzilliacus]

There's no reason why VDOT had to award that contract.  They could've thrown out the bids and gave the contract another look to see what could be removed to make the project cheaper.  A few million here or there isn't that big of a deal.  Doubling the expected amount is.  Sure, by doing so it delays the project a few months, but for $17 million, it's worth it.

I always hate to say something is fishy, because there's a lot that goes on that we don't know about.  But to just award the contract at twice its projected cost...yeah, that's fishy.

Given that Virginia governors cannot succeed themselves, and given that Gov. McAuliffe has made "fixing"  I-66 a top priority of his administration, I suspect that is the reason that the decision was made to award the contract in spite of the (high) price instead of rejecting the one bid and putting it out for another round of bidders.

[jeffandnicole]

There's no reason why VDOT had to award that contract.  They could've thrown out the bids and gave the contract another look to see what could be removed to make the project cheaper.  A few million here or there isn't that big of a deal.  Doubling the expected amount is.  Sure, by doing so it delays the project a few months, but for $17 million, it's worth it.

I always hate to say something is fishy, because there's a lot that goes on that we don't know about.  But to just award the contract at twice its projected cost...yeah, that's fishy.

Given that Virginia governors cannot succeed themselves, and given that Gov. McAuliffe has made "fixing"  I-66 a top priority of his administration, I suspect that is the reason that the decision was made to award the contract in spite of the (high) price instead of rejecting the one bid and putting it out for another round of bidders.

In last month's minutes of the NJ Turnpike Authority in regards to a project on the Newark Bay Extension, it had this similar issue with higher costs:

Seven bid proposals were received on May 5, 2016 for the above publicly advertised contract, as shown on the attached bid summary sheet. The low bid proposal in the amount of $55,726,255.34 may be compared to the second lowest bidder in the amount of $56,800,760.97, which was within 2% of the low bid. These bids are higher than the Engineer's Estimate in the amount of $52,683,594.25 due to the higher unit costs for select items requiring difficult access to complete, significant preparatory work to perform or the necessary handling of hazardous materials. The low bidder, J. Fletcher Creamer & Son, Inc. & Joseph M. Sanzari, Inc., A Joint Venture has performed work for the Authority and is considered competent to complete this contract.

So, as this shows, even a small variance should be investigated and described on at a bare minimum.  "We blew the estimate", when they are pricing out hundreds of projects a year throughout the state, simply doesn't happen.  It's unfortunate that you're probably right - that the governor has this as a pet project and doesn't really care about the costs.  Depending on your media down there, if they wanted to investigate this they may come across other issues they could probably make the governor's last year in office a hellish time.

[Mapmikey]

The contract to extend the 95 Express Lanes south 2 miles was awarded this week ($31M).  Construction to start this summer with the SB side opening late '17/early '18 and the NB part opens in summer '18...

http://www.virginiadot.org/newsroom/statewide/2016/ctb_awards_contract_for96133.asp

Orange signs are going up today (still covered) and some equipment has arrived in the median south of SR 610, so I think they are about to start removing trees from the median for this extension...

[Jmiles32]

The contract to extend the 95 Express Lanes south 2 miles was awarded this week ($31M).  Construction to start this summer with the SB side opening late '17/early '18 and the NB part opens in summer '18...

http://www.virginiadot.org/newsroom/statewide/2016/ctb_awards_contract_for96133.asp

Orange signs are going up today (still covered) and some equipment has arrived in the median south of SR 610, so I think they are about to start removing trees from the median for this extension...

Surprising that VDOT is still going through with this project considering the fact that they just won a 165 million doller federal grant to extend the HOT Lanes 10 miles further south to Fredericksburg.

[74/171FAN]

The contract to extend the 95 Express Lanes south 2 miles was awarded this week ($31M).  Construction to start this summer with the SB side opening late '17/early '18 and the NB part opens in summer '18...

http://www.virginiadot.org/newsroom/statewide/2016/ctb_awards_contract_for96133.asp

Orange signs are going up today (still covered) and some equipment has arrived in the median south of SR 610, so I think they are about to start removing trees from the median for this extension...

Surprising that VDOT is still going through with this project considering the fact that they just won a 165 million dollar federal grant to extend the HOT Lanes 10 miles further south to Fredericksburg.

You do realize that the bottleneck there is a problem now that would need to get fixed anyway.  (especially considering the reduction of weaving that should occur on I-95 SB between the current southern endpoint and SR 610). 

AFAIK, the fourth lane extension SB to SR 630 is still dependent on the bid for the rest of the interchange project there.