On March 24, information on statewide efforts related to the implementation of managed lanes/high-occupancy toll lanes was presented to the OCTA Board of Directors. A panel of speakers from agencies that plan, fund, own, maintain and operate the highway system provided federal and state perspectives.
The managed-lane concept includes a range of strategies such as access control, vehicle eligibility or pricing to promote more efficient operations on congested highway systems. The primary reason for conducting the workshop was that studies have shown despite efforts to improve and expand highway capacity, congestion on the system is expected to increase and it is prudent to consider options that make the system operate more efficiently as future highway investments are considered.
According to the 2012 Southern California Association of Governments Regional Transportation Plan, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) on the highway system will continue to grow at a faster rate as compared to population growth. Initial analysis for the upcoming 2014 Orange County Long-Range Transportation Plan shows that highway congestion is expected to increase by as much as 160 percent over current conditions without additional improvements. The Measure M2 Freeway Program will help address congestion but, given continued growth, will be insufficient to solve the overall congestion problem. This prompts the question of what else can be done to improve traffic conditions. Managed lanes are one concept being explored. There are managed lane projects throughout the country including in Seattle, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Miami, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. There are also the 91 Express Lanes here in Orange County.
Presenting to the board were Richard E. Backlund, associate division administrator for the Federal Highway Administration in California; Dennis T. Agar, Caltrans division chief for traffic operations; Stephen A. Finnegan, head of government affairs, community relations and public policy work for the Automobile Club of Southern California; Andrew B. Fremier, deputy executive director of the Bay Area Toll Authority; and Stephanie Wiggins, executive officer of the congestion reduction initiative for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Managed Lanes Workshop Presentations
- Dennis T. Agar, Caltrans
- Rick Backlund, FHWA
- Stephen Finnegan, AAA
- Andrew B. Fremier, MTC
- Stephanie Wiggins, Congestion Reduction Initiative
