Kenneth R. Buckeye

I-394 MnPASS High-Occupancy Toll Lanes: Planning and Operational Issues and Outcomes (Lessons Learned in Year 1)

The I-394 MnPASS express lanes opened in May 2005 as Minnesotas first high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane project. The MnPASS lanes were opened by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) after a decade of study, outreach, and education that garnered political and community support for a demonstration project on value pricing in the state. Mn/DOT staff and their project partners faced new challenges when the Minnesota governor and legislature authorized the adaptation of the I-394 high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to HOT lanes, and Mn/DOT leadership sought to implement the project as soon as possible. Without any existing toll roads in Minnesota, the team faced the challenge of delivering a project that was both publicly and politically supportable and technically sound. This paper discusses the expectations and issues addressed by the project team and community task force during the planning process, and the actual results achieved during the first year of operation of the I-394 MnPASS lanes.

VALUE PRICING OUTREACH AND EDUCATION: KEY STEPS IN REACHING HIGH-OCCUPANCY TOLL LANE CONSENSUS IN MINNESOTA

Since 1994, Minnesota transportation policy leaders have made several attempts to implement a value pricing project in the Twin Cities area. A joint effort involving the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Council, and the University of Minnesotas Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs has led to an increased awareness by transportation, political, business, environmental, and other community leaders that variable road pricing is integral to a long-term congestion management strategy. In 2003 the Minnesota state legislature with the support of the governor and lieutenant governor passed legislation allowing user fees for single-occupant vehicles in high-occupancy vehicle lanes. Minnesota is considering the implementation of express lanes, also known as high-occupancy toll lanes, on I-394 as the first test bed for value pricing in Minnesota. Minnesotas education and outreach efforts offer lessons for other states and regions considering value pricing projects: local political champions are critical for the success of any value pricing effort; a communications strategy is necessary to make sure that a range of public interests is addressed; an initial demonstration project must be both technically and politically feasible; and a long-term approach undeterred by short-term setbacks is essential.

Minnesota Pay-as-You-Drive Pricing Experiment

The Minnesota Department of Transportation carried out a pay-as-you-drive demonstration simulating the replacement of the fixed costs of vehicle ownership and operation with variable costs that gave drivers explicit price signals about travel decisions and alternatives. The objective was to estimate the reduction in mileage due to the mileage-based pricing scheme. The study consisted of market assessment surveys and a field experiment. The experiment is the focus of this paper. The experimental design divided participants into three groups: a control-only group, a treatment-then-control group, and a control-then-treatment group. Participants in the treatment phase were subjected to per-mile prices, and the mileage of all participants was recorded for the entire study duration. Two types of analyses were conducted. Aggregate analyses using bootstrap methods to determine groupwise changes in mileage showed that participants reduced their mileage when charged on a per-mile basis, with the greatest reduction during the summer period when trips could be more discretionary in nature. In addition, to understand better the variance in mileage sensitivity to per-mile prices, disaggregate analyses were performed by using a matching method that matched members of the treatment group to those of the control group based on the probability of participation in the experiment and their baseline mileage. The resulting percentage change in mileage was regressed against the percentage change in price and lifestyle variables. The price elasticity of peak-period mileage was found to be negative. However, in both aggregate and disaggregate analyses, the price effect was statistically insignificant as a result of the small sample size.

HIGH-OCCUPANCY TOLL LANE SYSTEM: A CONCEPT PLAN FOR THE TWIN CITIES

Critics of high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes have cited what seems to be excess capacity as reason to abandon the lanes and open them to all users. HOV proponents argue that the lanes do their job, though with unused capacity needed for the future. As a means to stem some of the criticism of the unused capacity, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities have undertaken a high-occupancy toll (HOT) system study. Under this concept, additional freeway capacity—primarily lane additions—would be implemented as HOV lanes with the option for solo drivers to use the facility by paying a toll. Users of existing roadway capacity on the regular-use lanes would continue to be able to use the freeways toll-free. The possible inclusion of ramp-meter bypass lanes as an option for HOT-lane users also was studied. Although the HOT-lane system concept is technically and financially feasible, serious challenges lie with public acceptance of any form of value pricing. Significant, ongoing value-pricing education efforts must continue and political champions must emerge before the public is willing to accept the HOT-lane concept. However, market research indicates that public acceptance increases when HOT lanes are presented in the context of the system, showing the other alternatives for reducing congestion that have been implemented or examined, along with their associated costs and benefits. Social and geographic equity issues begin to diminish when it is shown that HOT-lane revenues would be targeted to maintenance, debt service, and transit enhancements in the corridors where the fees are collected.

Value Pricing Education and Outreach Model: I-394 MnPASS Community Task Force

After a decade of public discussion and political debate, the I-394 MnPASS Express Lane, Minnesotas first high-occupancy toll lane, opened in May 2005. The MnPASS project was designed to improve the efficiency of I-394 by increasing the person- and vehicle-carrying capabilities of existing high-occupancy vehicle lanes, maintaining free-flow speeds for transit and carpools, and using electronic toll collection (tags/transponders and readers) for dynamic pricing and electronic enforcement. While previous road pricing initiatives in Minnesota, as in other states, have provided opportunity for public feedback, the process tends to be confrontational and less than satisfying for all parties. Both citizens and politicians often believe comments and concerns are minimized and rarely taken seriously enough to alter project plans. The I-394 Express Lane Community Task Force, however, was formed to help citizens and stakeholders fully understand the project and its goals and to provide a more effective vehicle to ...

Performance Evaluation of I-394 MnPASS Express Lanes in Minnesota

In 2005 the Minnesota Department of Transportation (DOT) implemented the states first optional toll lane project, the I-394 MnPASS Express Lanes. Located in the western half of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the MnPASS Express Lanes project converted underperforming high-occupancy vehicle lanes on Interstate 394 into high-occupancy toll lanes that allowed solo drivers the opportunity to pay an electronic fee to bypass congestion. After more than 5 years of operational experience, Minnesota DOT conducted an evaluation to determine whether MnPASS Express Lanes have met performance expectations and goals. The results of this analysis indicate that the lanes are performing efficiently, are continuing to ensure free-flow speeds for all users, and are enhancing vehicle and person throughput. In addition, the lanes generate sufficient revenue to cover operational costs. A recent survey indicates that MnPASS Express Lanes are providing users with value for their money in time savings and overall customer satisfaction.

Measuring perceptions of road pricing alternatives : Minnesota public outreach effort

In Minnesota, as in many states, transportation funding is not keeping pace with needs. In partial response, the Minnesota state legislature directed the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities to study and implement, where appropriate, various concepts of road pricing. Road pricing includes congestion pricing, toll roads, and mileage-based tax. Road pricing measures serve as a demand management tool, a mechanism to raise revenue, and a development technique to construct toll facilities through public-private partnerships. The law recognized that a highly controversial concept like road pricing could not be accepted by the public unless there was substantial public discourse. Furthermore, it is believed that there can be little public support for the introduction of a new user fee on a facility or for a service not previously priced unless the added benefits are commensurate with the price. A comprehensive public outreach process was designed, which included the Citizens Jury process, focus groups, opinion leaders survey, personal interviews, and a telephone survey. The process was designed to learn from each preceding outreach activity and help refine the issues and frame acceptable pricing options. The results indicate that there is support for some road pricing options among Minnesotans, but the strength of that support depends on where and how the options might be implemented. Furthermore, support varies by how the collected revenues might be used and by what those revenues replace or supplement.

EVALUATION OF NATIONWIDE DIFFERENTIAL GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM FOR ASSESSING ROAD USER CHARGES

Advances in alternative fuel technologies and increasing motor vehicle fuel efficiency may result in a decline or flattening of demand for conventional fuels in the United States in the coming decades. One outcome of this development may be a reduction in state and federal income from motor fuel taxes, the primary source of funding to maintain and improve the transportation infrastructure. To keep pace with future transportation needs, a new funding mechanism is needed to supplement or replace the current road financing mechanism. One possible approach is to charge for road use based directly on a measure of travel on public roadways by using onboard computers coupled with the Global Positioning System (GPS) and digital maps. The main goal of this research was to develop the system requirements for the GPS component that would determine the vehicles location on a given roadway with an in-vehicle road user charging system. The focus was to evaluate the GPS in the most difficult of environments—locations in which roads of different jurisdictions and possibly different fee structures are located in proximity to each other. To be effective, the system must be able to place the vehicle on the correct road. A description is given of a methodology to specify the needed accuracy of a GPS receiver to meet a required accuracy in distinguishing roads with a given separation distance at a statistical level of confidence. Results are reported for a series of road-based experiments that were performed to evaluate GPS receivers that use the nationwide differential GPS service.

EVALUATION OF CONGESTION PRICING ALTERNATIVES IN THE TWIN CITIES

A congestion pricing study for the Twin Cities metropolitan area was conducted in 1995–1996 by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Council of Minneapolis and St. Paul (Twin Cities), with sponsorship by FHWA. The effort was designated a congestion pricing preproject study by FHWA. After an initial screening, 11 pricing options for the Twin Cities were considered. Five regionwide pricing options were ultimately evaluated in detail. Because of the need to understand the relationships and effects of various pricing options, it was necessary to develop and apply adequate evaluation criteria to those options. An evaluation matrix was created to help planners and decision makers make recommendations concerning implementation of congestion pricing options and pricing features within those options that best meet identified objectives.

Express Lanes Performance Evaluation: Interstate 35W in Minnesota

Transportation authorities around the United States are challenged to develop highway projects that deliver the best operational performance for the public investment. Congestion pricing has been promoted as an efficient operational performance strategy that helps to add roadway capacity when it is needed most, during peak periods of the day. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has implemented its second high-occupancy toll lane in the I-35W MnPASS express lane. This paper examines the performance of the southern 7 mi of the MnPASS lane and considers a number of performance indexes as reported through the project evaluation process. Since the opening of the MnPASS express lanes on the I-35W corridor, average speeds on those lanes during the a.m. peak period have increased by 3 to 4 mph. Average speed in the adjacent general purpose lanes appears to have declined by about 1 to 2 mph in the evaluation period. Vehicle throughput on the MnPASS lanes has increased by 77% and person throughput has increased by 39% over the base year of 2008. Through dynamic pricing, MnPASS lanes are able to ensure free-flow speeds more than 95% of the time. Customers are generally pleased with MnPASS operations and performance, citing value for their money in the form of time savings, less traffic, faster travel, and reduced stress. The I-35W MnPASS express lanes ensure greater speed and reliability for transit service and systems, encourage greater transit use through higher performance, and provide a congestion-free lane for those who choose to pay and those who carpool or ride transit.