"Are 3 Heads Better than 2? Formulating Carpool Policies for Managed Lanes" Netconference

On November 19, 2008 the National Center for Transit Research’s National TDM and Telework Clearinghouse at the University of South Florida and the Association for Commuter Transportation held a netconference entitled Are 3 Heads Better than 2? Formulating Carpool Policies for Managed Lanes

Summary:

Policymakers and transportation professionals throughout the country are proposing managed lane projects, also known as High Occupancy / Toll (HOT) lanes and Express Toll lanes on existing and new High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) facilities. In many cases, policies have been advocated or carried out to increase the carpool occupancy requirement from 2-persons to 3-persons for free use of these facilities. What are the reasons for and implications of these new HOV policies? Although policy proponents have stated existing 2-person carpools will increase the number of people in their carpool to meet the incentive, policy opponents indicate the presence of alternatives that might make a carpool 3+ policy contribute to more (+) vehicle trips.  Understanding how carpoolers may change their behavior is fundamental to understanding how successful the managed lane will be in addressing regional congestion, air quality, and mobility objectives. This netconference panel includes:

• Eric Schreffler, ESTC provided a general overview on managed lanes and national TDM/Telework subject area expert for the Urban Partnership Agreement projects.
• David Ungemah, Texas Transportation Institute discussed the considerations needed inform the development of a comprehensive regional policy for managed lanes and value pricing.
• Mike Burbank, North Central Texas Council of Governments discussed the development of the managed lanes policy study for the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

This 77 minute netconference was moderated by Donna Smallwood, MassRides/URS

Click here to view the streaming media replay 
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• Copy of all the PowerPoint slides (pdf) (3.5 Mb)

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Links

North Central Texas Council of Governments' Managed Lanes Policy

I95 Express (South Florida)

Examining Incentives and Preferential Treatment of Carpools on Managed Lane Facilities David Ungemah, Ginger Goodin, Casey Dusza, Texas Transportation Institute Mark Burris, Texas A&M University