HOT Lanes in Southern California

Abstract

This chapter describes how, in Southern California, important experiments in demand-based tolls have been providing new information about travelers’ responses to innovative road pricing. Southern California, famous as the birthplace of freeways and for its alleged love affair with the automobile, has been the setting for two ground-breaking developments in the provision and pricing of road capacity: the State Route 91 Express Lanes and the San Diego Interstate 15 HOT lanes. Of the two, the State Route 91 project is especially noteworthy as California’s first modern example of private investment to create new urban highway capacity. Of further interest is the fact that both projects rely exclusively on electronic toll collection technology, using equipment that is compatible with other conventional toll facilities throughout the state. The two Southern California projects are applications of “value pricing,” described in a U.S. DOT report to Congress as “a market-based approach to traffic management which involves charging higher prices for travel on roadways during periods of peak demand. Also known as congestion pricing or road pricing, value pricing is designed to make better use of existing highway capacity by encouraging some travelers to shift to alternative times, routes, or modes of transportation.” The Interstate 15 project uses dynamic value pricing where the toll can change in real time in order to adapt to unusual changes in demand. However, a schedule of typical daily toll is also published. The State Route 91 projects sticks to a published toll schedule, based on established patterns of daily demand. This chapter describes in detail the operating characteristics and observed results to date from these two groundbreaking experiments in road pricing. By examining their similarities and differences, lessons can be drawn that may be applicable to other settings considering projects of this nature.

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