What is the difference between HOT lanes and tollways?

[ACSCmapcollector]

To my curiousity, What is the difference between HOT lanes and tollways? Just want to find out.

[hotdogPi]

A HOT lane is a single lane, while a tollway is an entire roadway; a tollway has no free lanes.

[jrouse]

HOT lanes also allow high-occupancy vehicles to travel without paying a toll.   With a tollway or a toll lane all vehicles pay.


iPhone

[myosh_tino]

Since this is not specific to the Pacific Southwest, I think this should be moved to General Highway Talk.

[Mapmikey]

A HOT lane is a single lane, while a tollway is an entire roadway; a tollway has no free lanes.

This will change when I-66 inside the beltway is transformed over the next few years...the entire roadway will be HOT lanes during rush hour.

Also not sure if you meant literally that a HOT lane is exactly 1 lane.  There are HOT facilities in Virginia with 2 and 3 lanes...

[1995hoo]

jrouse summarizes it pretty well. A more accurate name for HO/T would be "high-occupancy OR toll" (hence that slash). EITHER you meet the HOV requirement OR you pay a toll. Naturally, the requirements and the configurations vary from place to place around the country. In Miami, for example, you have to register as a carpool, whereas here in Virginia to ride free you need three or more people and an E-ZPass Flex transponder that has a switch to activate "HOV mode." (When the inside-the-Beltway I-66 facility Mapmikey mentions begins operation, it'll require two or more people and an E-ZPass Flex for the first few years until the number rises to three in 2020).

HO/T lanes differ from "express toll lanes" in that the latter don't have the HOV exemption–all traffic using them must pay.

A "tollway," or toll road as I more typically hear them called, applies the toll to all lanes and, generally, to all traffic. Conceivably you could have a toll road that also has HO/T or express toll lanes–essentially, you'd pay a toll to use the road, then pay another toll to bypass congestion on said road. There's been discussion of HO/T lanes on the Homestead Extension in Florida, though I don't know anything about the status of the proposal.

One of the hallmarks of HO/T lanes is variable tolling: the toll rises and falls as more or less traffic is using the lanes, the idea being that raising the toll will cause fewer people to use them and therefore keep traffic moving at speed. In my unscientific experience this seems to work pretty well on the I-495 HO/T lanes in Virginia. Most regular toll roads don't have variable tolling, though some do (the ICC in Maryland is one) and it may become routine on any new toll roads, especially in urban areas. All-electronic toll collection makes this a lot more feasible than it was in the past.

[jeffandnicole]

Most regular toll roads don't have variable tolling, though some do (the ICC in Maryland is one) and it may become routine on any new toll roads, especially in urban areas. All-electronic toll collection makes this a lot more feasible than it was in the past.

Some roads, such as the NJ Turnpike & DE 1, have static variable tolling for EZ Pass users, providing for a different price if you enter the road at certain times versus other times.  The price will always remain the same based on those times regardless of the amount of traffic.

Cash users will always pay the same price, which is the most expensive price.

[1995hoo]

Sure. That wasn't what I meant by "variable tolling," of course, but it's valid.