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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Solo commuters will soon be able to buy their way into car pool lanes on Interstate 15.
Utah's Transportation Commission on Friday gave the green light to a plan that allows drivers to pay a monthly $50 fee for access to high-occupancy vehicle lanes, sometimes known as high-occupancy toll lanes. HOV or HOT lanes are currently reserved for buses or other vehicles carrying two or more people.
The idea is to control congestion by moving more drivers into the underused HOV lanes. The Utah Department of Transportation estimates the permit program could increase traffic speeds up to 10 mph during peak travel times, because capacity will increase in other travel lanes.
Under the plan UDOT will convert a 38-mile stretch of I-15 -- from Orem to the north end of Salt Lake City -- for HOV permit use. Initially 600 permit stickers will be available, although that number could increase if the program is successful.
Stickers could be ready for purchase online by August, after UDOT repaints freeway lanes and puts up new signs, said Randy Park, UDOT Region II director.
The stickers must be posted on the front and rear of vehicles. UDOT will also purchase two Utah Highway Patrol cruisers and foot the bill for full-time UHP troopers to enforce the rules.
The state's cost of implementing the program, including setting up the sticker program and repainting highway lanes is estimated at $2.61 million, UDOT spokesman Nile Easton said.
Once up and running however, the monthly $50 fees will generate and estimated $360,000 and should pay for the program, including enforcement, he said.
"It's pretty close to break-even," UDOT spokesman Nile Easton said.
Roger Borgenicht of Utahns for Better Transportation said that as a congestion-management tool, HOV permits probably make sense but they don't reduce the number of cars on the road.
"The more important thing is saying those HOV lanes are really for vans, buses and car pools," Borgenicht said. "Transit and multiple-occupancy vehicles ought to have priority."
UDOT began studying HOV lane permitting about two years ago, after the Legislature asked it to study new ways to cut costs and alleviate congestion.
Eventually, UDOT wants to make the system electronic. In other states motorists use little transponders in their cars to beep in and out of lanes.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
