SR200: Talking Operations - I-95 Express Lanes in Florida: Project Update

April 1, 2009  |  3:00 pm - 4:30 pm EDT

95 Express opened in Miami-Dade county on December 5th, 2008. This project converted a single High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes into 2 variably priced express lanes. The project also enhances and expands Bus Rapid Transit service on I-95 from I-395 in downtown Miami to Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, reducing congestion on that heavily traveled north-south artery. Tolls will vary with level of congestion, the goal being to keep traffic in the express lanes moving at a minimum speed of 45 MPH. Registered vanpools, registered carpools of 3+, registered hybrid vehicles and motorcycles can use the lanes without paying a toll. Buses of several types can also use the lanes toll-free - Miami-Dade and Broward County express and regular transit, public school and over-the-road. Trucks of three or more axles will not be allowed to use the express lanes. A update on the various aspects of this project will be provided. Presentation will provide information on traffic and revenue, operational statistics, toll-free registrations, and lessons learned.

To access this webinar:  https://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/webconference/web_conf_learner_reg.aspx?webConfID=16466

Deadlines Approach for the Symposium on Mileage-Based User Fees

April 14-15, 2009 | Austin, TX

Sponsored by:

• Texas Transportation Institute, University Transportation Center for Mobility
• Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
• Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota

This symposium will bring together professionals in the field of road user fees to share information and advance the discussion of user-based fees as a potential replacement for the fuel tax. Representatives from past, current and upcoming pilot studies and implementations will present lessons learned and key study topics from their projects. Panel discussions will address specific topics such as legislative and policy issues, public acceptance challenges, potential technology applications, and institutional issues. The symposium will incorporate interactive discussion sessions on logical next steps as well as the associated challenges and opportunities.

For information and to register, visit the symposium web site at: http://tti.tamu.edu/conferences/mbuf09/

South Florida Interstate 95 Express Project: Lessons Learned

Angela Jacobs of the Federal Highway Administration has prepared a Lessons Learned document regarding the development and pre-implementation of the I-95 Express Lanes in Miami, Florida.  The overview of the document:

The purpose of this document is to share best practices and lessons learned to date in the implementation of the I-95 Express managed lanes project in South Florida. These lessons have been assembled based on interviews conducted in person or by phone, with project team members. The interviews were conducted prior to the toll implementation of Phase 1A. Therefore, the lessons and best practices summarized in this report focus on the processes prior to toll implementation and operations.

Download the document here:

http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/tolling_pricing/value_pricing/pubs_reports/projectreports/sfl_95express_proj/index.htm

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Study on Congestion Pricing

The CBO has just published a new report entitled, Using Pricing to Reduce Traffic Congestion.  As stated in the preface of the report...

This study—prepared at the request of the Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget—
explains how congestion pricing works, reviews the best available evidence on projects
that make use of such pricing in order to assess the benefits and challenges of the approach,
and discusses federal policy options for encouraging congestion pricing. In keeping with the
Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO’s) mandate to provide objective, impartial analysis, this
study makes no recommendations. 

You can download the report from the CBO's website here:

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/97xx/doc9750/03-11-CongestionPricing.pdf