By Robert B. Case, PE

In response to a request from VDOT, in December HRTPO staff collaborated with the HRTPO’s Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC) to identify candidate projects for FY 2012 discretionary grant programs. On December 12, 2011, HRTPO staff submitted a letter to VDOT identifying projects to be considered by VDOT for submission under these grant programs, including a “Regional Value Pricing Study” and a “HOT Lane Study on I-64 Reversible HOV Lanes”.
 
On December 15, 2011, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) presented a webinar titled “Update on the Urban Partnership and Congestion Reduction Demonstration Projects” as part of its webinar series: “Overcoming the Challenges of Congestion Pricing.”  Given that Hampton Roads has HOV lanes which may be candidates for being converted into High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, the “lessons learned” from the webinar are summarized below.

The first speaker, Kathy McCune, presented an update on the “Metro ExpressLanes”, a conversion of 25 miles of HOV lanes in Los Angeles to High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes.  She presented lessons learned including:
• “A Political Champion is a must”
• “Engage the public early…and often…”
• “A multi-modal approach increases public acceptance”
• “Address equity issues early in the planning process”

For more information, see http://www.metro.net/projects/expresslanes/

The second speaker, Jay Primus, presented an update on “SFpark”, a parking management project in San Francisco.  The goals of the project is to achieve the following transportation objectives:

• Relieve congestion
• Increase usage of public transit
• Increase economic competiveness
• Increase safety
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions

The project uses current communications technologies (web, smartphone apps) and demand responsive parking rates to achieve these objectives.  Initial results include increased revenue from parking meters and a reduction in revenue from parking tickets.
See http://sfpark.org/ for more information.

The third speaker, Rory Santana, presented an update on “95 Express Lanes Program”, a conversion of HOV lanes in the Miami / Ft. Lauderdale area to HOT lanes.  He reported a customer satisfaction rating of 90% or higher.  Based on the results of the project, he recommended selling reliability to the public, not speed improvement alone.

For more information, see http://www.95express.com/

The fourth speaker, Patrick Vu, presented an update on Atlanta’s I-85 Express Lanes, another HOV to HOT lane conversion.  His lessons learned included:

• “Anticipate/expect traffic pattern changes”
• “Collection of key performance metrics”- before and after data
• “Message coordination and addressing public response”- include radio traffic personalities
See www.PeachPass.com for more information.

The fifth speaker, Kenneth Buckeye, presented an update on “Minnesota’s Urban Partnership Agreement” which is funding 24 projects and initiatives, including an HOV to HOT lane conversion in the Minneapolis area.  His lessons learned included:

• “Clear decision-making authority and assignment of responsibilities…”
• “Real and meaningful deadlines…”
• “Multimodal solutions work”
• “Must continue to market strategies and performance”

For more information, see www.dot.state.mn.us/upa 

The sixth speaker, Patty Rubstello, presented an update on the Lake Washington Urban Partnership Agreement, which includes the tolling and replacement of an existing bridge and the addition of over 130 new daily bus trips in the Seattle area.  Lessons learned include:

• “Coordinate early with FHWA on sign messages”
• “Education- Lots of it!”
• “…something to sell”- replacement of existing vulnerable floating bridge
See http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/LkWaMgt/ for more information.

The next webinar in the Congestion Pricing series will be held February 23, 2012.