Emerging Challenges to Priced Managed Lanes (2020)

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56 This synthesis provided an overview of the state of the practice of how state DOTs address challenges to implementing tolling, or pricing, on their managed lane systems. The synthesis entailed an extensive literature review of 60 publications and over 700 online media articles, a survey distributed to all 50 state DOTs, and a sampling of six case examples that explained spe- cific examples of how agencies addressed challenges. The synthesis concludes with a summary of common themes and an identification of research gaps for further study. Common Themes and Challenges A number of common themes tended to recur throughout the synthesis. For the six case examples, a set of five common themes emerged on these topics: (1) limited public understand- ing and confusion, (2) difficulty in explaining goals and objectives, (3) communication and public engagement, (4) performance management and maximum toll caps, and (5) enforcement of toll-exempt vehicles. Table 1 presents a summary of how the agencies from the case examples addressed the common challenges. Limited Public Understanding and Confusion A common challenge presented in the synthesis was the lack of understanding about the purpose and role of pricing for managed lane systems. The literature review found the public to be highly skeptical of priced managed lanes because the concept is difficult to explain to a non- technical audience. Generally, suspicion tends to rise as complexity increases. Managed lanes tend to vary by geometric design (e.g., number of lanes, access points) and rules of operation (e.g., permitted carpools, hours of access). These features tend to vary within individual states and regions, contributing to the overall confusion. For example, the Dallas–Fort Worth region has a number of priced managed lanes, but each corridor operates with a different set of goals and design features. Some managed lane corridors operate with a private concessionaire, and some corridors only operate a managed lane in one direction, depending on the time of day. Difficulty in Explaining Goals and Objectives The use of pricing can have a wide variety of goals and objectives for managed lanes, but the natural ability for tolls to generate revenue tends to crowd out the importance of the other goals. The most notable finding from the survey was the wide disparity between the goals that state DOTs have for priced managed lanes and the public assumption for those goals. A total of 16 states nationally are either planning, constructing, or operating priced managed lanes, and all of those states list improving mobility and traffic management as a major goal. C H A P T E R 5 Conclusion

Conclusion 57 However, only seven states listed revenue generation as a major goal. In contrast, the litera- ture review cited overwhelming evidence from surveys, focus groups, and media reviews that demonstrates that the public assumes that all priced managed lanes seek to generate revenue. Facilities that tended to list revenue generation as the primary goal tended to have a more difficult path to implementation than did those facilities that focused on traffic management. Often, the public feels they pay enough through traditional mechanisms, such as the gas tax. The I-635 Dallas and I-77 Charlotte projects were two case examples in which agency representatives began their project development process by outlining the underfunded transportation infrastructure. However, both case examples encountered significant resis- tance from key stakeholder groups. State legislators from both states felt they had sufficient funding to support transportation infrastructure without the use of tolling. Conversely, case examples such as I-10 Los Angeles and I-66 Virginia heavily emphasized the reinvestment of toll revenue into transit services and programs. Some agencies found enabling greater transparency during the project development process, particularly during the initial planning stages, helped increase the probability of a successful project. LA Metro and VDOT provided transparency for how they use excess toll revenues to support transit and other projects beyond covering the operation and maintenance of the priced facility. Both agencies share detailed information and reports that describe the processes they use to estimate funding and select projects. All or almost all of the funding goes back into projects located near the corridor and tends to focus on transit and other multimodal uses. Staff from NCDOT felt that including an all-general-purpose lane alternative to the environ- mental review process would have helped to explain how pricing would improve performance. An all-general-purpose lane alternative could have shown a complete baseline comparison by including an option that added more nontolled lanes. Agency staff would have been able to Challenge Attempted Mitigation Limited Public Understanding and Confusion • Educational campaign to inform drivers about how to use the priced managed lanes and the hazards of illegal weaving (FDOT) Difficulty in Explaining Goals and Objectives • Providing a plethora of data and transparency for the use of toll revenue, showing how excess funds supported transit programs (LA Metro, VDOT) • Comparing an alternative with toll lanes to an alternative with the same number of lanes but no tolling (NCDOT) Communication and Public Engagement • Meeting individually with opposing stakeholders and elected officials, presenting a toolkit to help explain the purpose of pricing (NCTCOG) • Forming an advisory group composed of both supporters and opponents to systematically address a loud chorus of concerns (NCDOT) Performance Management and Maximum Toll Caps • Adjusting and modifying geometric design features in the corridor, such as shoulder lanes and intermediate access points (WSDOT) • Considering improvements to vehicle occupancy enforcement and changes to toll-exempt requirements (LA Metro) Enforcement of Toll- Exempt Vehicles • Increasing fines for carpool violators and focusing on habitual offenders (WSDOT) • Considering piloting advancements in imaging technology (LA Metro) Table 1. Common challenges and attempted mitigation.

58 Emerging Challenges to Priced Managed Lanes quantifiably show a comparison between two different alternatives with the same number of lanes—one with tolling and one without. Communication and Public Engagement As with most tolling and pricing programs, agencies cite challenges with their attempts to communicate and engage with the public and key stakeholders. As referenced from the state DOT survey, the stakeholder groups most commonly cited as having a high level of impor- tance include state lawmakers, locally elected officials, and local residents. The I-635 Dallas and I-77 Charlotte case examples showed how transportation agencies addressed their engagement challenges. In Dallas, local representatives from NCTCOG met individually with key stake- holders and opposing state legislators. The representatives used a toolkit to help explain how the region planned to use private concessionaires and toll financing to help fund billions for infrastructure support for the region. In Charlotte, NCDOT formed an advisory group com- posed of local residents and key stakeholders. The membership of the group consisted of both supporters and opponents of the project. NCDOT used the advisory group as a way to formalize concerns from a high volume of complaints about the project. Performance Management and Maximum Toll Caps A few priced managed lanes have such high demand that the toll price increases to a maxi- mum limit, or cap, and congestion occurs on the facility. This phenomenon occurred with the 95 Express in Southeast Florida, I-405 Express Toll Lanes in Washington State, and the I-10 Metro ExpressLanes in Los Angeles. All three of these facilities have a goal to improve mobility and provide congestion relief, but elected officials have expressed concern about the imposition of high toll rates. For 2019, WSDOT operated the I-405 with a $10.00 maximum toll cap for a trip across the entire 17-mile corridor. The agency modified a few geometric design features, such as the addition of a part-time dynamic shoulder lane and the alteration of an inter mediate access point. WSDOT did experience an overall improvement after making the changes, but congestion still occurs on the I-405 Express Toll Lanes, even after making modifications to the dynamic toll rate. LA Metro experiences degradation in performance on the I-10 Metro ExpressLanes with a maximum toll cap of $2.00 per mile on the 14-mile corridor. LA Metro cites a high use of nontoll-paying carpools as a major reason because the agency has very limited excess capacity to sell. Additionally, LA Metro is considering an increase to the occupancy requirement. A future HOV5+ pilot is under development. Enforcement of Toll-Exempt Vehicles Commonly, one of the main reasons for performance management issues stems from enforcement issues related to ensuring that toll-exempt vehicles actually qualify for an exemp- tion. Many priced managed lanes offer exemptions to carpools, but a few also offer exemp- tions to alternatively fueled vehicles (depending on the state). The I-10 Metro ExpressLanes in Los Angeles and the I-405 Express Toll Lanes in Washington State were two examples that experienced challenges with enforcement. LA Metro staff estimate that 25% to 30% of all volume on the I-10 Metro ExpressLanes declares their vehicles as a carpool when they are not actually a carpool and thus violate the requirement to receive the toll exemption. Agency staff have attempted to try alternative technologies as a means to abate the problem. One potential solu- tion considered is the use of an automated vehicle ODS that counts the number of passengers in a vehicle by reviewing pictures. LA Metro staff tested the automated system and found a 94.1% accuracy rate, and staff estimate that a 99.9% accuracy rate can be achieved with an additional

Conclusion 59 manual, or human-based, review process. WSDOT also encountered similar enforcement-related problems for the I-405 Express Toll Lanes. WSDOT attempted to address the challenges by increasing the carpool violation fine and designating three distinct tiers for habitual violators. Agency staff also increased support for additional enforcement patrols and created a self- enforcement program that travelers can use to report violators via a hotline or website. Research Gaps As a result of this synthesis, the researchers identified a set of four research gaps for further investigation that address the following topics: (1) public communication and understanding, (2) operations and performance monitoring, (3) enforcement, and (4) maximum toll caps. Each topic in this section summarizes the key problem, identifies past research and publications, and highlights a potential research plan (if applicable). Public Communication and Understanding State DOTs still struggle with explaining how tolling and pricing can improve overall per- formance through effective traffic management. The public easily understands the ability to use tolling to generate revenue, but the concept of maximizing throughput is tough to com- municate. Some of the agencies interviewed for this synthesis have tried color-coded graphs and placed a strong emphasis on the ability for carpools and transit to carry higher numbers of people. However, agency representatives felt their communication techniques could use refinement and improvement. AASHTO and NCHRP have funded efforts to understand better ways to communicate the revenue and funding needs for the transportation system, such as NCHRP Project 20-24(62). That project published a report in 2011 that used key stake- holder interviews to develop guidance on leveraging support for additional revenue. Future research could focus on the nonrevenue goals of state DOTs—such as traffic management. The research could use refined surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews with the gen- eral public to qualitatively explore public perceptions and attitudes of priced managed lanes. Operations and Performance Monitoring An established performance measurement and monitoring program can help to ensure greater public understanding about the purpose and role of congestion pricing for a managed lane system. Agencies can show how performance aligns for a priced managed lane by quantify- ing changes in specific metrics. Additionally, a performance monitoring system can help drive and solidify a concept of operations that can assist agencies with formalizing and documenting their day-to-day operational plan. The last comprehensive research project on the use of performance measures for conges- tion pricing was NCHRP Report 694: Evaluation and Performance Measurement of Congestion Pricing Projects, published in 2011 (Perez et al., 2011). In that report, the authors summarize the importance of using performance measures to help form a vision for a congestion pricing project. Some positive attributes of incorporating performance measures include (a) presenting a scien- tific rationale for describing existing conditions and future possibilities, (b) quantifying benefits and trade-offs, and (c) placing the focus on the project and not on exogenous interests. One of the main sections of that NCHRP report was the development of seven case examples on variably priced lanes that listed the measures and the data collection process. However, since the publica- tion of that report, many more priced managed lanes have become operational, and the public understanding may have shifted during that time. Additionally, managed lane practitioners could

60 Emerging Challenges to Priced Managed Lanes benefit from standardization of key performance measures that can be used to compare dif- ferent facilities nationwide. Future research on the topic of performance monitoring would benefit from recent advances in the data sciences field and the wealth of tolling and operational data generated from operat- ing priced managed lanes. Standardization would help transportation agencies better comply with federal, state, and regional policies. The research could help to suggest better methods of data collection, management, analysis, and reporting. Additionally, more priced managed lanes have started to use static and real-time data feeds, such as current toll rates and operational requirements (e.g., direction of flow, open/closed status, carpool toll discounts). The research could help to establish best practices for managing real-time performance information for use in a monitoring dashboard. Commonly, when new projects open with pricing for the first time, media outlets and the public want to know how the project performs against promised expecta- tions. As described in this synthesis, WSDOT made its data feeds public, and VDOT developed a comprehensive online performance dashboard that shows conditions for the priced managed lane and adjacent arterials. A future project on this topic would help to expand on the initiatives already started by a few operators. Enforcement Historically, enforcement has been a consistent challenge for managed lanes, particularly for facilities with pricing. The most significant issues tend to be the processes used to verify vehicle occupancy for carpool eligibility, whether for two- or three-person carpools. Detecting carpools at fast travel speeds is very difficult, and even when occupancy can be determined, conducting enforcement is a challenge for managed lanes with limited shoulders and pullout areas. Priced managed lanes have the additional challenge of handling a declaration process whereby travelers can indicate their trips as either in the tolled or nontolled mode. Compliance requires travelers to self-declare their status either by driving through a designated lane at a toll gantry, moving a switch on a toll transponder, or using a smartphone app. For this synthesis, LA Metro reported violation rates as high as 30% of total traveling volume on the I-10 Metro ExpressLanes in Los Angeles. A future research project on this topic could present best practices for addressing enforce- ment challenges by synthesizing successful business rules, infrastructure needs, and operational practices. The project could investigate various adoptions of technologies through identifica- tion of strengths and weaknesses for various systems and the cost of system components. Other topics could include safety for on-road personnel, judicial adjudication, pavement markings, and associated design features (e.g., lane separation type). Additionally, the research can benefit from new insights gained from advancements in wireless communication systems, transponder protocols, infrared cameras, machine vision, and automated vehicles. Maximum Toll Caps Dynamic pricing offers agencies a valuable tool for handling performance on managed lanes, but the integration of pricing is a challenge. A key hurdle is a maximum toll policy that limits rate increases, which limits the efficacy of using pricing as a management tool. As noted earlier in the synthesis, the I-405 Express Toll Lanes in Washington State and the I-10 Metro ExpressLanes in Los Angeles currently operate with a maximum toll cap. Additionally, the 95 Express in Miami, Florida, is also known to operate with a toll cap on the first 7-mile section that initially opened for tolling in 2010. The agencies interviewed for the case examples, WSDOT and LA Metro, attempted a variety of alternatives because agency staff were prohibited

Conclusion 61 from increasing tolls above the maximum cap. Most of the alternatives relied on attempts to improve the carpool compliance rate (or reduce violators) and modifications to geometric design and intermediate access. Past research has shown that lane separation type can also contribute to degraded performance in the managed lane, particularly for facilities separated by striping and pylons. A phenomenon known as “sympathy slowing” occurs when managed lane travelers slow their speed in response to congestion in the adjacent general-purpose lanes. The managed lane travelers fear that general-purpose lane travelers can quickly and easily cross over into their lane and cause a hazard. However, current research and practice do not quan- tifiably estimate specific causes for congestion and reduced capacity in the priced managed lane—whether caused by a maximum toll cap, type of lane separation, or some other geometric design feature.