HOT Lanes, Cool Facts

Why Are Variable Tolls 

Used for HOT Lanes?

Congestion pricing, or “variable 

pricing,” changes the amount 

charged for road use based on 

demand. On a typical roadway, a 

flat toll would not be the optimal 

toll throughout the day. During 

off-peak periods it may be too 

high for drivers to benefit from 

paying it. Conversely, during 

times of peak demand, the toll 

may not be high enough to 

make optimal use of the facility. 

Variable pricing offers a solution 

to this problem by increasing 

the toll during periods of peak 

demand and reducing it during 

off-peak times.

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What Are HOT Lanes?

Traditional high-occupancy vehicle 

(HOV) lanes require passenger 

vehicles to have a minimum number 

of passengers. “HOT” lanes is short for 

“high-occupancy toll” lanes. HOT lanes 

are HOV lanes that allow vehicles that 

don’t meet occupancy requirements to 

pay a toll to use the lane. Variable pricing 

is used to manage the lane so that reliable 

performance is maintained at all times. 

HOT lanes have proven to be more 

efficient than traditional HOV lanes. 

In addition, in many cases the adjacent 

General Purpose lanes also benefit from 

the resulting reallocation of vehicles in 

the corridor. While communities may 

call them by different names, such as 

Fast Lanes or Express Lanes, the basic 

operation is the same—HOT lanes 

encourage carpooling and other transit 

alternatives while offering vehicles 

that do not meet standard occupancy 

requirements another option.

What Are the Benefits of HOT Lanes?

HOT lanes provide mobility options for individual drivers while encouraging the 

use of transit and carpooling. Tolls collected from HOT lanes can supplement the 

operations, enforcement and maintenance costs for the facilities. Even buses benefit 

from HOT lanes—research shows that 

communities with HOT lanes are often 

able to increase transit service as was the 

case with I-15 in San Diego. Solo drivers 

know they can count on getting where 

they need to be on time.

For example, Minneapolis has increased the 

number of vehicles using the I-394 MnPASS 

lanes by 33 percent since the facility’s 

opening in 2005 without degrading transit 

and HOV use. Furthermore, travel speeds 

of 50 to 55 mph have been maintained 

for 95 percent of the time in the lanes. 

Denver originally projected 500 toll payers 

during the peak hour travel along I-25 

but in fact achieved 1,400 in the first year of operation. Use of the I-25 HOT lanes has 

grown by almost 18 percent since the HOT lanes opened in 2006 and the lanes remain 

uncongested. Additionally, transit ridership in the HOT lanes has remained high. 

Why Charge Travelers for Using Roadways?

By charging travelers for use of roadways, agencies can help mitigate traffic congestion 

while generating revenues to supplement operating costs. Common sense dictates that 

for a user to be willing to pay for a service, then he/she must benefit in some way from 

it. For priced facility users, this benefit is most likely travel-time savings or reliable 

travel. Often, a priced facility will offer a more reliable trip than an adjacent or nearby 

route. Drivers can choose to use the priced facility if they judge the travel-time savings 

worth paying the requisite toll.

Future I-495 Express Lane, Virginia

I-25 Express Lane, Denver

Do HOT Lanes Help the 

Environment?

Like their HOV counterparts, HOT 

lanes have the potential to help 

improve air quality where they are 

implemented. High-occupancy lanes 

might help to reduce harmful impacts 

to the environment associated with 

congestion, especially by encouraging 

the use of multi-passenger vehicles or 

mass transit systems. On SR 167 in 

Seattle, general purpose lane speeds 

increased 10 percent and HOT lane 

speeds increased 7-8 percent and transit 

ridership increased 16 percent from the year before implementation of the HOT 

lane. As a result, the federal government allows HOV lanes to be considered a 

transportation control measure (TCM) for air quality conformity analysis.
For more information about 

implementing HOT lanes in 

your community, see the 

following resources:

Neil Spiller

Transportation Specialist

 Federal Highway Administration

 Office of Operations, 

HOTM E84-431

1200 New Jersey Ave, SE

Washington D.C. 20590

Phone: 202-366-2188

neil.spiller@dot.gov

Greg Jones 

Transportation Specialist

FHWA-Resource Center

61 Forsyth Street, Ste. 17T26

Atlanta, GA 30303

Phone: 404-562-3906

Fax: 404-562-3700

GregM.Jones@dot.gov

What about Equity? Are HOT Lanes More of a Burden 

on Lower-Income Drivers?

Research on I-394, SR 167, and I-15 indicates that drivers of all socioeconomic 

backgrounds support HOT lanes. In fact, data from the San Diego Association of 

Governments indicate that the lowest income group expressed stronger support 

from the project than the highest income group. Research shows that people of all 

income levels support 

HOT lanes. Users of all 

incomes see the value 

in having a reliable trip 

when they need it. A 

2004-2006 longitudinal 

panel survey of I-394 

residents in Minnesota 

found support levels 

at over 60 percent 

for the congestion 

priced HOT lane. This 

number varies only 

slightly when sorted by 

income levels, gender, 

and education levels, 

suggesting that the arrangement is perceived as equitable. I-15 in San Diego had a 

77 percent approval rating after opening with nominal differences between high 

and low income users. Specific focus groups of low-income travelers in Washington 

found that low income drivers are typically as supportive, if not more supportive, of 

the HOT lanes concept than other drivers.

I-394 MnPass

Who Is Implementing 

HOT Lanes?

Communities around the nation are 

installing HOT lanes in response to 

increased congestion. There are 

10 HOT lanes currently operating 

in eight states:

•	 I-15 FasTrak in

San Diego, California

•	 US 290 Northwest Freeway

QuickRide HOT Lanes in 

Houston, Texas

•	 I-394 and I-35W MnPass in

Minneapolis, Minnesota

•	 I-25 Express Lanes in

Denver, Colorado

•	 I-15 Express Lanes in

Salt Lake City, Utah

•	 SR 167 HOT Lanes Pilot Project

in Seattle, Washington

•	 I-95 Express Lanes in

Miami, Florida

•	 I-680, Alameda County,

California

•	 I-85, Atlanta, Georgia

Where are HOT Lanes 

Operating?

There are currently ten operating 

HOT lane projects for a total of over 

100 miles in the U.S., and many states 

have projects in the planning stages. 

All of the operating projects were 

conversions of HOV lanes to HOT 

lanes, although some have extended 

the HOT lanes. The average length is 

approximately 12 miles. 

How are the Current Projects Operating?

The operating projects are either one- or two-lane facilities in each direction. Most 

strive to maintain speeds of at least 45 miles per hour. The variable toll ranges from 

$0.25 in the off-peak to $9.00 in heavily congested periods.

What does the Public Think about HOT Lanes?

The operating projects enjoy support from both users and non-users. While most 

people don’t use the HOT lane every day, research shows that travelers like having a 

choice in their travel options. On I-25 in Denver, 62 percent of survey respondents 

say they use the Express Lanes because it saves time. Likewise in Houston, focus 

group respondents thought that using the HOT lane saved them as much as 

50 percent of total commute travel time. Reliability is also often cited as a benefit of 

the HOT lane. In San Diego and Miami, users there want the projects expanded.

HOT lanes have been implemented in 

eight states.

FHWA-HOP-12-027