Freeway express-lane project speeds ahead

Under a plan for State Highway 85 and U.S. Highway 101, carpool lanes will be converted into express toll lanes, allowing solo drivers with FasTrak transponders to drive in the fast lane at any time.

Toll rates have not been determined, but similar express-lane projects across the country have fees ranging from $1 to $10, based on time of day, the distance driven and the level of traffic in the express lane.

Cars with two or more occupants, motorcycles, transit buses and eligible hybrid vehicles can still drive in the lanes for free, according to Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which will set the toll price.

The VTA board approved the project in December. A final vote by the board on the designs of the express lanes will take place later this year. Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol will also have input into the designs of Highways 85 and 101.

The express lanes on Highway 85 will run its entire 24-mile length and would open in 2012. Highway 101 might have two express lanes in each direction, which would stretch 41 miles from Morgan Hill to Whipple Road in Redwood City, according to the VTA. It would open in 2015.

The lanes would be separated from regular lanes by a double-yellow line. Electronic signs would display the toll for solo drivers using FasTrak. An overhead antenna would read the car’s FasTrak transponder and deduct the fee. The toll would adjust so that traffic maintains a minimum of 55 mph, according to the VTA.

The express or “smart” lane program could double the number of cars allowed to travel in the carpool lanes, according to VTA spokesperson Jennie Loft.

“The existing carpool lanes are underutilized. For example, on SR 85 the carpool-lane volumes vary between 600 and 1,000 vehicles per hour. The carpool lanes can accommodate up to 1,650 vehicles per hour, while maintaining a high level of service,” she wrote in an e-mail.

The project cost is estimated at $496 million — $96 million for Highway 85 and $400 million for Highway 101. Net revenue between 2015 to 2035 could reach $1.2 billion in future-year dollars, Loft said.

Express lanes have been popular and successful in other parts of the country, according to the VTA. San Diego, Minneapolis, Denver, Seattle and Salt Lake City are among cities with express-lane programs. Alameda County is installing express lanes to Interstate highways 680 and 580. Those “smart lanes” are due to be completed by 2010, according to the VTA.

The VTA claims the lanes will help lower pollution by reducing the number of vehicles stuck idling in traffic. In a study by engineers at the University of Central Florida, some drivers in Orange County, Calif., reported a 40-minute cut in their commute times when using the express lanes on a 10-mile toll road.

On April 20 the California State Assembly will hold a hearing on Assembly Bill 744, which would authorize the Bay Area Toll Authority to acquire, construct, administer and operate the express-lane-network program on state highways in the nine-county Bay Area. The VTA was authorized to implement the express lane project by the state Legislature in 2004 and 2007.