DART opens phase one of 50-mile HOV lane system expansion

by Teresa Gubbins

On Tuesday, DART opened six miles of new High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane on I-30 between the Dallas/Tarrant County Line and Loop 12. The lanes are open to vehicles with two or more occupants, buses, motorcycles and other eligible vehicles, Monday-Friday, 6-9 a.m. and 3-7 p.m.

It's the start of a 50-mile expansion of DART's existing 31-mile HOV lane network. New lanes are set to open this fall on Central (US 75), LBJ Freeway (I-635), and East R.L. Thornton (I-30).

In 2008, the I-30 lanes will become the region's first managed HOV facility, allowing access to single-occupant vehicles for a fee. Eventually, the lanes will operate 20 hours a day and extend from I-820 in Fort Worth all the way to downtown Dallas.

If you want to see obfuscating lingo at its very worst, check out the definition of "managed":

How this pertains to local commuters is that, beginning in 2008, the HOV lanes they've been adding to Central, LBJ, and I-30 will require drivers pay a fee -- they don't like the word "toll," this is not a tollway, it's managed -- to use them.

Thus, if you are a regular commuter who has decided to bite the bullet, make the sacrifice, and carpool, you'll also have to pay to do so.

And during off-peak hours -- high noon, later at night -- the HOV lanes will be opened to single-passenger cars who are willing to pay an even higher fee, allowing them to avoid the more-congested regular lanes.

It seems upside-down: Carpoolers have already made a sacrifice by giving up their independence and the convenience of driving solo. Given the sacrifice they've made, it hardly seems fair to allow people who aren't carpooling to simply pay their way into that lane. And these are routes that have always been "free."

Unfortunately, the era of "free" roads is over, says Koorosh Olyai, DART's assistant VP of Mobility Programs Development.

"No roads built in the future are going to be 'free,' it's simply a question of how they're going to be paid for," he says. "These fees will help offset some of the operating costs, but they're not money-makers.

"Approximately 160,000 people move into the Dallas-Fort Worth area every year. With the growth in population and employment occurring all over our area, it's an attempt to resolve the dilemma of overcrowded roads."

A study done in San Diego, which has had "priced" and "managed" lanes for a few years, showed that some San Diego-ites had learned to like them, and were convinced that adding regular lanes without fees or other restrictions would not help much in relieving congestion due to continuing increases in traffic.

For info, call 214-979-1111 or visit the Web site.

Source: DART

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