Suggested Citation:
Zhang, Michael, Hang Gao, Di Chen, Yanlin Qi (2025)

Brief: High-Occupancy Toll Lanes Can Improve Driving for Everyone if Dynamically Priced

. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Brief UCD-ITS-RR-25-76

Abstract:

High occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes allow carpool vehicles to bypass congestion and save travel time. However, HOV lanes are often underutilized, leading to a waste of road capacity or the loss of travel time advantage over general purpose lanes. To address this issue, high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes have gained popularity. HOT lanes, when properly priced, preserve the advantage of HOV lanes, while allowing single-occupant vehicles to pay for access, making use of spare HOT lane capacity.