HOT Lanes, Cool Facts

2012PDFBooklet/PamphletFHWA-HOP-12-027High occupancy toll lanesHigh occupancy vehicle lanesManaged lanesUnited StatesUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of OperationsUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of OperationsSpiller, Neil C.Jones, Gregory M.Federal Highway AdministrationTraditional high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes require passenger vehicles to have a minimum number of passengers. \u201cHOT\u201d lanes is short for \u201chigh-occupancy toll\u201d lanes. HOT lanes are HOV lanes that allow vehicles that don\u2019t meet occupancy requirements to pay a toll to use the lane. Variable pricing is used to manage the lane so that reliable performance is maintained at all times. HOT lanes have proven to be more efficient than traditional HOV lanes. In addition, in many cases the adjacent General Purpose lanes also benefit from the resulting reallocation of vehicles in the corridor. While communities may call them by different names, such as Fast Lanes or Express Lanes, the basic operation is the same\u2014HOT lanes encourage carpooling and other transit alternatives while offering vehicles that do not meet standard occupancy requirements another option.83