Express (HOT) Lanes and Carpool Lanes

Regional Express Lane Network

UPDATE, February 8, 2012
First Phase of Express Lane Network to Undergo Environmental Studies

MTC's Administration Committee today authorized a contract with HDR, Inc. to assist MTC in completing the project approval/environmental document for the initial phase of the Regional Express Lane Network. MTC aims to open these Phase 1 projects, totaling approximately 76 lane miles, in 2015. Phase 1 projects involve Interstate 680 in Contra Costa County and three bridge approaches in the East Bay — the Bay Bridge, the San Mateo Bridge and Dumbarton Bridge. These Phase 1 projects call for converting existing carpool lanes into Express Lanes that would be open to carpools free of charge, and to solo drivers for a variable fee. See the committee memo, including a map of the projects, here.

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UPDATE, September 28, 2011:
Express Lane Expansion

MTC today approved Resolution No. 4030, which authorizes the agency to submit an application to the California Transportation Commission (CTC) for authority to develop and implement an Express Lane facility on portions of Interstates 80, 880 and 680 as well as the Dumbarton and San Mateo-Hayward bridge approaches. Read more

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In April 2009, MTC adopted the long-range Transportation 2035 Plan, which commits to developing an 800-mile express lane network throughout the region. The network is needed because Bay Area highway congestion is consistently among the worst in the nation, regional travel is slow and unreliable, and the carpool lane system is fragmented by gaps that can’t be closed for many decades due to lack of funds, making carpooling and transit less effective.

In the course of developing the Transportation 2035 Plan, MTC/BATA, Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and the county congestion management agencies pledged to work cooperatively to address these concerns by developing a regional express lane network. (See HOT Network Principles adopted July 2008.)

As is the case with the region’s first Express Lane, now operating along the Sunol Grade on southbound Interstate 680 (Alameda and Contra Costa counties), solo motorists would be able to choose to buy their way into the Express Lanes in order to bypass traffic bottlenecks, while carpools and vanpools would be able to use the lanes free of charge. The tolls will vary according to the level of congestion: the worse the congestion, the higher the price to bypass the traffic, a concept known as “value pricing.”

In July 2010 MTC staff recommended an approach that would use existing statutory and regulatory authority for regional transportation agencies to convert existing carpool lanes to express lanes and use the revenue generated to finance completion of the carpool/express lane system. (See Bay Area Express Lane Network: Next Steps.)

Aims of the regional express network include:

• Connectivity: Close gaps within the existing HOV lane system to increase travel time savings and reliability for carpools and buses. Express Lanes provide a funding mechanism to expedite completion of this network of preferential lanes.
• Efficiency: Optimize capacity in Bay Area freeway corridors to better meet current and future traffic demands. Maximize efficiency of freeway facilities by better using excess capacity in the existing HOV system.
• Reliability: Provide a reliable, congestion-free transportation option.

On September 28, 2011, the MTC commission voted to seek authorization from the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to develop and operate an expanded Express Lane network in the Bay Area, largely through the eastern side of the region. The proposal would allow the region to add as much as 290 directional miles to the 280 miles of Express Lanes already constructed or authorized in the region, bringing the total potential coverage to 570 miles of interconnected Express Lanes across the Bay Area. However, any expansion of the initial Express Lane network that is already built or in the pipeline would be subjected to further financial, operational and environmental analysis as well as extensive public involvement before any funding or construction commitments would be made.

The planned additions to the region’s Express Lane system would create a north-south backbone network in the East Bay that would stretch from Milpitas in northern Santa Clara County to the far north border of Solano County, and would encompass Interstate 80 in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties, Interstate 680 in Solano and Contra Costa counties, and Interstate 880 in Alameda County, along with the approaches to the Dumbarton and San Mateo-Hayward bridges.

Of the 290-mile expansion, 150 miles would involve converting existing diamond lanes, or high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, to Express Lanes, and 120 miles would involve widening freeways to create new HOV/Express Lanes in both directions. The remaining 20 miles involve a stretch of Interstate 880 through Oakland that cannot physically accommodate Express Lanes per se, but that is targeted for a variety of advanced operational strategies to smooth traffic flows.

The initial segment of the express lane network opened in fall 2010 on southbound I-680 over the Sunol Grade. Additional express lanes are scheduled to on the State Route 237/I-880 Connector in Santa Clara County in early 2012, on I-580 through the Tri-Valley area of eastern Alameda County in 2014, and in 2015 on State Route 85 and U.S. 101 in Santa Clara county.

More detail on these initial projects is available at:

• Alameda County Transportation Commission – I-680 Express Lanes
• Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority - Silicon Valley Express Lane Project

For more information about the regional network, contact the project manager, Lisa Klein at lklein@mtc.ca.gov.

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See also:

• Express Lane Expansion Gets Green Light
  September 2011
• I-680 Express Lane Marks First Anniversary With Record Use
  September 2011
• FasTrak® Your Way Through the Sunol Grade
  September 2010
• Express Lanes Frequently Asked Questions