Federal Highway Administration Provides $3 Million To Help California Reduce Congestion |
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Federal Highway Administration
10 January 2006
FHWA 01-06c
Contact: Nancy Singer
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Tel.: (202) 366-0660
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today provided more than $3 million in federal grant funds to help California explore new ways to reduce congestion through projects like high-occupancy toll (HOT) toll lanes.
The grants are part of the FHWA Value Pricing Pilot Program to fund testing and evaluation of innovative ways to reduce traffic congestion. California will implement HOT lanes on I-680 in Alameda County and study dynamic pricing, where tolls vary in real time, on SR 91 in Orange County. Since 1995, tolling on SR 91 has proven successful in reducing travel time by bringing highway speeds up to 60 to 65 mph on express lanes while increasing the share of vehicles on those lanes.
The landmark highway, transit and safety legislation signed in August by President Bush gives states more flexibility to use tolling, HOT lanes and other congestion solutions to offer drivers more choices for a reliable trip. With HOT lanes, low-occupancy vehicles are charged a toll while high-occupancy vehicles may use the lane at no charge or at a discounted rate.
"The Bush Administration championed tolling in the new transportation law so states would have more innovative ways to tackle congestion and give drivers more choices to get home or to work," said Acting Federal Highway Administrator J. Richard Capka.
In addition to keeping lanes free flowing, tolling generates revenue for transportation improvements and expansion, according to Capka.
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FY '05 Value Pricing Pilot Program Grants
State |
Locality |
Project | Grant |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
California | Alameda County | I-680 SMART Carpool Lane in Alameda County | $950,000 |
2 |
California | San Francisco | Area Road Charging and Parking Pricing | $1,040,000 |
3 |
California | San Diego | Violation Enforcement System on I-15 HOT Lanes | $568,678 |
4 |
Georgia | Atlanta | I-75 South Feasibility of HOT/Truck-Only Toll (TOT) Implementation | $242,388 |
5 |
Virginia | Washington, DC | Regional Network of Value Priced Lanes | $240,000 |
6 |
Washington | Seattle | State Route 167 HOT Lane Pilot | $880,000 |
7 |
California | Orange County | Implementation of Dynamic Pricing on SR 91 | $588,000 |
8 |
Georgia | Savannah | Northwest Truck Tollway | $472,000 |
9 |
Texas | Austin | Loop 1 HOT Lane Enforcement and Operations | $172,000 |
10 |
Texas | Austin | Deliberative Polling -Loop 1 Corridor | $160,000 |
11 |
Texas | San Antonio | IH-10 Value Priced Express Lanes | $129,600 |
12 |
Texas | Waco | I-35 Value Priced Express Lanes | $440,000 |
13 |
Florida | Lee County | Expansion of Value Pricing to the Sanibel Bridge and Causeway | $200,000 |
14 |
Georgia | Atlanta | GA-400 Variable Pricing Institutional Study | $444,000 |
15 |
Texas | Austin | Truck Traffic Diversion Using Variable Tolls | $148,000 |
16 |
Washington | Seattle | Global Positioning System (GPS) Based Pricing Pilot Program | $600,000 |
| Total | $7,274,666 |