Skip to main content

Studies show HOV conversion to HOT improves transit

According to a December 2015 report from American Association of State Highway and Transportation officials, converting from high occupancy vehicle (HOV) to Express Lanes (HOT) benefits transit. Across the US, transit ridership and speeds increase when HOV goes HOT. Data from major cities that converted to Express Lanes show positive results, such as Miami, where 53 per cent of passengers said tolling affected their decision to use transit. Average bus travel increased from 18 to 55 mph on the I-95 E
February 4, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
According to a December 2015 report from 4944 American Association of State Highway and Transportation officials, converting from high occupancy vehicle (HOV) to Express Lanes (HOT) benefits transit.  Across the US, transit ridership and speeds increase when HOV goes HOT.  
 
Data from major cities that converted to Express Lanes show positive results, such as Miami, where 53 per cent of passengers said tolling affected their decision to use transit. Average bus travel increased from 18 to 55 mph on the I-95 Express Lanes and average weekday ridership increased 57 per cent from 2008-2010 to August 2011, while travel time decreased from 25 to eight minutes.

In Miami, average bus travel speed increased from 18 to 55 mph and travel time decreased from 25 to 8 minutes. Average weekday passengers increased 57 per cent from 2008-2010 to August 2011.

On-time performance increased for bus rapid transit on I-110 Metro ExpressLanes in Los Angeles, while average daily peak period passengers increased by 52 per cent in the morning peak and 41 per cent in the evening peak after USDOT-funded service was added. Passengers increased again by 29 per cent in the morning peak and 25 per cent in the evening peak after tolling began.

Bus speeds in Minneapolis increased and bus travel times decreased after I-35W converted to HOT lanes.

Critically, across these cities on average, one third of new transit riders previously drove alone.

Related Content

  • January 27, 2012
    Benefits of traffic light synchronisation
    Alicia Parkway corridor, located in Orange County, California, was part of Phase 1 of an inter-jurisdictional Traffic Light Synchronisation Programme (TLSP) in Orange County designed to increase mobility and overall drive quality while reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. By increasing average speeds and reducing travel times via the reduction in stops, the programme sought to reduce vehicle acceleration and deceleration events along the corridor; these have been identified as the leadin
  • January 30, 2012
    Open road tolling: safer with less congestion
    Michael J. Davis of PBS&J looks at the positive effect that open road tolling can have on safety
  • May 12, 2014
    New research finds distracted driving on the rise on I-95
    Transurban-Fluor and AAA Mid-Atlantic have released the second annual report on distracted drivers on I-95 in Northern Virginia, which found that despite major construction, distracted driving is a growing problem on the heavily travelled corridor. The report, part of the Orange Cones, No Phones campaign focused on reducing distracted driving in the 95 Express Lanes construction zone, found that the number of frequent I-95 drivers likely to use their cell phone while driving has increased from 56 percent i
  • June 2, 2015
    Study finds rumble strips save lives on rural highways
    A recently completed study shows that rumble strips are proving to be an effective and low-cost way to reduce crashes on Michigan's state highways. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) started a major rumble strip program for two-lane high-speed rural highways in 2008. Centre-line and shoulder rumble strips were installed on all MDOT rural, non-freeway highways with posted speed limits of 55 mph and appropriate paved lane and shoulder widths. To date, 5,700 miles of centre-line rumble strips