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VPP Projects Involving Tolls
Category: Priced Lanes
Sub-Category: Fast and Intertwined Regular (FAIR) Lanes

Project - CALIFORNIA: FAIR Lanes with Dynamic Ridesharing in Alameda County

This Fast and Intertwined Regular (FAIR) Lanes lanes study focused on the congested Interstates 580 and 680 in Alameda County and will built upon the existing Interstate 680 value pricing study. The "Sunol Grade" portion of Interstate 680 is, by voter-approved ordinance, required to operate new value-priced carpool lanes. New carpool lanes were also planned for I-580. The FAIR lanes feasibility study examined options in this integrated corridor, including FAIR lane connector ramps at the I-580/I-680 interchange near the Dublin-Pleasanton Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station. Complementary measures to increase public acceptability were to be implemented in the study corridor. They included "dynamic ridesharing" and priority parking for ridesharing users at participating BART stations. Dynamic ridesharing enables travelers to respond to pricing in flexible ways that traditional ridesharing and transit options do not. It uses web-based and telephone-based systems to allow users to find carpool partners on a "real-time" basis, close to the time that travel is needed. It was anticipated that this new type of ridesharing would be more readily acceptable in the Bay Area than elsewhere, because casual carpooling with strangers is already prevalent there, and this project would add some new security features. In addition to cost and time savings (due to free use of express lanes), dynamic ridesharing would be further facilitated with reserved premium parking spaces at participating BART stations, on-demand backup services, and in-station electronic information screens providing necessary details about individual ride matches.

Study Completed

The study focused on limited eligibility FAIR lanes, which would provide credits for low-income travelers in the corridor. The study was completed in August 2005. The name of the study was changed to HOT/Credit (HOT/C) Lanes to better reflect the focus of the effort to provide credit for low income travelers in the general purpose congested lane to be used for the HOT/C lane. Overall, the study concluded the following: that HOT/C users reduce the speeds on the HOT lane; HOT revenues would be reduced and the credit rate would have an effect on the HOT lane; more generous credit and easy eligibility would lead to the most adverse impact, but avoiding the negative impacts would mean that the credit rates would need to be negligible. HOT/C would be relatively inexpensive to implement if a HOT lane was already operational. Polling indicated that HOT/C was not well supported by the public. The Congestion Management Agency (CMA) Board accepted the final report.

Dynamic Ridesharing

The study focused on using web-based and telephone-based systems to allow users to find carpool partners on a "real-time" basis and close to the time that travel was needed. The study was completed in July 2006. The evaluation showed that 121 participants registered for RideNow and made 1,170 ride match requests that resulted in 140 ride matches. It was recommended that the RideNow program be simplified, that dynamic ridesharing programs could be more successful and cost effective if incorporated into regional ridesharing programs, and that person-to-person marketing strategies worked the best for this type of program. The final Evaluation Report is available on the CMA's Web site www.accma.ca.gov.

For More Information Contact

Elizabeth Walukas
Senior Transportation Planner
Alameda County CMA
Phone (510) 836-2560 extension 26
Fax (510) 836-2185
E-mail: bwalukas@accma.ca.gov


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