Tolling and Pricing Program
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VPP Projects Involving Tolls
Category: Priced Lanes
Sub-Category: High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes

Project - CALIFORNIA: HOT Lanes on I-15 in San Diego

San Diego;s HOT Lanes were originally approved as part of the FHWA'S Congestion Pricing Pilot Program in ISTEA-1991. The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) celebrated a decade of road pricing on Interstate 15 in 2006 and is currently deploying its next-generation HOT lane system on an expanded section of I-15 (see related write-up on "CALIFORNIA: I-15 Managed Lanes in San Diego"). SANDAG's initial foray into road pricing consisted of collecting tolls via monthly permits with a decal in the window (December 1996); subsequently, a transponder-based FasTrak® electronic toll collection system was implemented in April 1998. Under this program, customers in single-occupant vehicles (SOVs) pay a toll each time they use the I-15 HOV lanes. The unique feature of this program is that tolls vary dynamically with the level of congestion on the HOV lanes. Fees can vary in 25-cent increments as often as every six minutes to help maintain free-flow traffic conditions on the HOV lanes. Motorists are informed of the toll rate changes through variable message signs located in advance of the entry points. The normal toll varies between $0.50 and $4.00. During very congested periods, the toll can be as high as $8.00. Pricing is based on maintaining a LOS "C" for the HOT facility.

On average, approximately 75 percent of the weekday traffic using the priced HOV lanes goes for free (vehicles with two or more occupants qualify as carpools). The remaining drive-alone commuters are FasTrak® customers who pay the toll. Gross revenue from tolls generated by the I-15 FasTrak program exceeds $17 million since the program's inception, and over $7.5 million net income has been used to subsidize Commuter Express Bus service in the I-15 corridor. Other expenditures include HOV enforcement, provided by the California Highway Patrol (CHP); and maintenance and operation of the electronic toll collection (ETC) system and Customer Service Center. The current I-15 FasTrak® operation is outsourced to TransCore, L.P. under standard services agreement.

SANDAG conducts periodic outreach to measure public response to the value pricing concept. These efforts have revealed broad support for managed/HOT lanes through the years. While average incomes of I-15 FasTrak patron households are well above the area median income, equity has not been perceived as a major obstacle to implementing pricing on HOT lanes in the San Diego region.

Evaluation Completed 2002

The original study was funded under the Congestion Pricing Pilot Program. Archives of the project reports can be found at: http://www.sandag.org/index.asp?projectid=34&fuseaction=projects.detail.

For More Information Contact

Heather Werdick
San Diego Association of Governments
Phone: (619) 699-6967
E-mail: hwe@sandag.org


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