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SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Department of Transportation is looking at small ways to increase the effectiveness of the carpool lane system along Interstate 15.
The department says the Express Lane system is working well, but there are new questions about its cost-effectiveness.
An electronic payment system went into effect last summer. It allows solo drivers, who do not qualify to use the Express Lane without cost, to equip their cars with a transponder. The transponder tracks when the motorist uses the Express Lane and bills them accordingly. Prices increase at peak commute times.
The system currently generates about $38,000 in monthly revenue. But every month, UDOT pays $37,000 in costs for it.
Later this year, the department will begin to pay maintenance contracts, which will add $40,000 per month.
"Apparently the engineers knew this was going to happen, and we were always planing to use this fund to supplement until we were all the way finished with the entire Express Lane system," UDOT spokeswoman Tania Mashburn said Thursday.
Doing the math, $1 million would give UDOT about two and a half years to cover the additional $40,000 of monthly costs -- and that may take a while.
It's money the agency could make a lot faster if it still used the the old, low-tech, monthly-pay sticker system. UDOT says 1,500 stickers made more money at $50 a month than the 8,300 transponders out there now are making per use.
But UDOT is also looking to make people who are driving in the Express Lane illegally pay for it.
"That is one of our biggest problems, is that there are quite a few people who are using the lane illegally, and they're not paying for it," Mashburn said. "We're working with highway patrol to try to help them spot those types of users better."
There are no plans right now to increase prices in the Express Lane. The hope is once this lane extends further into Utah County revenues will naturally go up.
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Story written with contributions from Andrew Adams and the ksl.com news team.
