Cool Tips on HOT Lanes:

Are They Right for 

Your Community?

For more information about implementing HOT lanes in 

your State or Region, see the following resources:

FHWA Office of Operations:

http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/freewaymgmt/index.htm 

FHWA Tolling and Pricing Program:

http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/tolling_pricing/index.htm 

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

Are HOT Lanes Right for My Community?

Here are a few questions to consider when deciding if 

HOT lanes are right for your community:

•	 Could the HOV lanes in my community be better

utilized? 

•	 Do I wish to improve transit service for commuters in

key corridors?

•	 Am I prepared to invest in infrastructure and

technology enhancements that may be cost-recoverable

in the long run?

•	 Would revenue potentially generated from tolls benefit

my community?

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 MnPass in Minneapolis, Minnesota

•	 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 FHWA-HOP-12-025
What Are HOT Lanes?

Traditional high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes require

vehicles, except for motorcycles and bicycles, to have a

minimum number of passengers. “HOT lanes” is short

for “high-occupancy toll” lanes, which allow drivers

to pay a toll and still use the lanes if they do not have 

enough passengers or are riding transit services. In

this way, HOT lanes provide more options for drivers 

as well as help communities improve mobility without

increasing overall congestion. 

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 for 

providing more reliable travel times.

Why HOT lanes?

Communities consider HOT lanes for a number of

reasons. HOT lanes can:

•	 Provide reliable travel times. HOT lanes offer 

“congestion insurance” when you really need to be

somewhere on time.

•	 Increase roadway efficiency. Actively managed HOT 

lanes operate more efficiently than traditional HOV lanes.

•	 Provide a funding source for operations and 

maintenance on the lane. Revenues generated by HOT

lanes can supplement the costs of their construction, 

ongoing maintenance, and enforcement. 

•	 Improve the effectiveness of HOV lanes. HOT 

lanes better utilize existing lanes while continuing

to encourage drivers to use transit and carpooling 

alternatives. 

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. Buses 

benefit from HOT lanes, and research shows that communities

with HOT lanes use transit services more often. 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.

HOT Lessons Learned by Communities

“What we have found is that even people of different

economic levels have been using or will use these lanes

when they find a benefit. They’re actually making the

general purpose lanes a bit more attractive and a bit less

congested. In the end, everyone is benefited by them.”

Robert Arnold — Director, 

Office of Transportation Management, FHWA

“I think that most folks would agree that HOV facilities

are a lot friendlier to the environment because of the

amount of people they carry versus the number of

vehicles. We did not have any environmental challenges 

as we moved forward with the HOT lanes concept.”

Samuel Johnson — Chief Technology Officer, SANDAG

Keys to Success

•	 Identify clear, measurable goals and objectives. For 

example, if your goal is to increase transit ridership, set 

on-time bus performance standards and use revenue

for transit improvements.

•	 Select a good candidate corridor. Make sure your 

project is reasonable, from design to access treatment

to toll operation and enforcement. A good starting 

point is FHWA’s screening criteria.

•	 Create a flexible maintenance / operational plan.

Traffic management needs change over time. How will 

the toll rate be modified? Might access be restricted

by different criteria in the future? Think through

possibilities and build them in to your project rationale.

•	 Market the project to the public in advance to increase 

acceptance. Engage the public early in the planning

process with support of local project champions.