On Friday June 2nd, 2006, the state of Colorado joined three other states in opening up carpool lanes to single drivers for a fee. Four minutes ahead of schedule, at 11:56 A.M. Colorado’s first HOT lane system opened for business. The HOT lanes remain open to carpools (any vehicle with two or more passengers…and motorcycles and buses) but now, for a fee, single drivers can make the 6.6 mile trip to downtown Denver from US 36 and Pecos or I-25 north of US 36. The lanes reverse for afternoon and overnight use.

CDOT spokeswoman Stacey Stegman expects there to be a learning process before the system runs smoothly and the initial results seem to bear that out. According to the Rocky Mountain News in the first seven hours of operation there were 4,686 vehicles that used the HOV lane and 461 vehicles that used the HOT lane, with about half of those NOT registering a payment. To use the HOT lanes a driver must get a transponder from the E-470 Authority. There is no cash involved, no automatic basket to toss coins in.

Indeed this reporter watched the HOT lanes at the toll point, near 58th Avenue, about halfway to the north end of the system. I saw motorcycles use the HOT lane along with buses, both of which should probably have used the free HOV lane at the gantry. Colorado State Patrol Troopers are monitoring the gantry. The HOT lane collection is located on the east side of the highway, HOV lane on the west. That means that in the mornings inbound HOT lane drivers must be in the left lane and in the afternoon and evenings outbound HOT laners must be in the right lane. The lanes are well marked and the learning is underway.

The prices range from 50 cents during off peak times to $3.25 at the height of the rush hour. I was asked by one carpool user about the location of the toll booth. “Where do you pay?” she asked. You don’t, not on the highway. It’s all electronic. The potential for fines is worth mentioning. If a single driver uses the free carpool lane he is subject to a 65 dollar fine and if a single driver uses the HOT lane without a transponder, she could get a 70 dollar fine. CDOT’s Steve Sperry, the man who has been running the HOV lanes for much of the time since they were built in 1994 says he expects some leniency at first

The new HOT lanes set-up in the northern Denver metropolitan area is getting plenty of attention from Uncle Sam. Federal Highway Administrator Richard Cepka, freshly sworn in on Wednesday, came for a preview tour Thursday the day before tolling began. CDOT owns the HOV lanes, but they were built with federal dollars so carpool vehicles are still allowed to use the lanes free under federal rules. Cepka was quoted in the Rocky Mountain News, “I would not impose this on any state. But what we’re really interested in doing is providing local officials with the options they need to make their own decisions. The idea is to leverage everything we can to give the locals the tools they need. We’re going to watch this one very closely.”

The general consensus seems to be that the HOV lanes, or carpool lanes, were under-utilized and Governor Bill Owens agrees, “It only makes sense to allow other drivers to use that excess capacity for a fee.” The governor was quoted in the Denver Post while speaking at the grand opening event near Coors Field. “It is going to be a solid hit.” Officials are looking at the construction of more HOT lanes in the future. One area under scrutiny is the stretch of C-470 on the south side of the Denver metro area between Wadsworth Boulevard and I-25.

Now that CDOT has joined Texas, California and Florida in the HOT lane business, we here at CDOT ITS and the Colorado Traffic Management Center will be an integral part of the operation. By watching our closed circuit cameras 24/7 we will help spot stalls and other problems, such as a confused driver knocking down a crucial gate. To better understand what we as PIOs were getting in to, we toured the HOT lanes a couple weeks before the switch over. (See HOT Lanes Tour story)



Photography by Michael Tamburello