Motorists in Maryland may one day be able to buy their way out of congestion, state officials said yesterday as they once again began to study the so-called Lexus Lanes that were rejected several years ago as inequitable.
Officials are considering HOT lanes - for High Occupancy Toll - for the four lanes the state plans to add to Interstate 95 from the Baltimore line to White Marsh, for the proposed Intercounty Connector highway in Montgomery County and for the Capital Beltway.
HOT lanes are usually free to public buses and cars with three or more occupants, but single-occupant cars would pay to use them - typically about 20 cents a mile, depending on traffic.
"Wherever we are looking to expand or make improvements in roads, we want to look at this," said Deputy Transportation Secretary Trent Kittleman, adding that the state would not convert existing lanes to HOT lanes. Any HOT lanes would have to be new lanes on existing roads or part of new roads.
"We would never charge drivers to use lanes they've been using for years," Kittleman said. "That is not in the plan in any way, shape or form."
She asked state planners yesterday to consider variable tolls for the ICC's proposed HOT lane, which would change depending on the level of congestion. The more crowded the free lanes, the more expensive it would be for single-occupant cars to use the HOT lanes. (Price limits are usually set, so tolls don't get out of hand.)
The proposal was brought before the Maryland Transportation Authority board yesterday. The board did not act on the HOT lanes idea, but members expressed support.
"They're a very viable alternative and they have a great deal of capacity for raising revenue and reducing congestion," said board member Walter E. Woodford Jr.
Woodford did express concern about the size of the highways the state is planning. He noted that the plan to add four lanes to I-95, in addition to the existing six lanes, would make the road 326 feet wide in some places - wider than a football field is long.
"Looking at it, I get a little uncomfortable with this broad expanse of roadway," Woodford said, "and I wonder if there's any way, aesthetically, it can be improved on."
"Double-deckers," Kittleman joked.
HOT lanes are generally supported by environmental groups, as long as they are carved out of existing lanes, because the groups believe it makes highways more efficient and reduces the pollution generated by cars sitting in traffic.
