Less congestion, at a price

A $110 million federal grant headed to Georgia to create a toll lane along I-85 would guarantee a free-flowing lane of traffic on a heavily traveled thoroughfare in Atlanta, the second-most-congested urban area in the nation.

Touted by federal and state officials and announced Tuesday, the money would be spent to transform an already existing HOV lane of highway from Spaghetti Junction to Old Peachtree Road into a toll lane that anybody —- who was willing to pay a fare —- could use.

But not all commuters are enthusiastic about the proposal.

“That’s nuts,” said Rumiko Rios, who frequently uses the HOV lanes. “Fourteen dollars is a lot,” she said, referring to a California project that charges about $1 per mile to use the lanes at peak times.

Here, along the 14 miles of mostly Gwinnett County highway, the toll would rise with congestion in the main lanes, keeping the price high enough to guarantee the lane would always be free-flowing.

It could open by January 2011, according to Gov. Sonny Perdue.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced the federal grant hoping to jump-start the transformation of high-occupancy vehicle lanes into toll lanes, or HOT lanes, throughout metro Atlanta.

“The concept is simple, but it is a proven way to keep traffic moving,” Peters said.

High-occupancy vehicle lanes are reserved for cars that carry more than one passenger. The number of passengers required depends on varying regulations.

A HOT lane allows a single driver and sometimes two-person car pools to use the lane in exchange for a toll. Large car pools would likely still drive free.

Other states have instituted the tolls to create at least one lane of traffic that is not congested during peak travel times.

Officials at HOT lane offices in San Diego and Orange County, Calif., said their projects had done just what they were supposed to: maintain a free-flowing highway option.

In San Diego, the government is expanding its original 8-mile Express Lane along I-15 with 12 more miles of HOT lanes. San Diego uses the excess toll revenue to fund mass transit.

If there were a surplus of toll revenue from Georgia’s project, it would go to transportation projects, Georgia Transportation Commissioner Gena Evans said Tuesday.

The federal grant included money that Congress traditionally earmarks for mass transit, and a large part of the grant would go toward buying 36 new commuter buses.

State and local governments would add about $37 million as well, said a spokesman for Perdue, who supports the concept.

In Georgia, toll roads historically haven’t been popular.

The state hasn’t built a new toll road since the Ga. 400 extension opened in 1993, according to the state Department of Transportation. That road cut through Buckhead and sparked a storm of controversy.

An aide to Peters and a lead advocate of congestion pricing, Tyler Duvall, conceded that the Obama administration could reverse the grant. But he said such grants were traditionally honored.

“That’s their decision,” Duvall said, “and we obviously hope they honor the commitments made by the administration.”

A spokesman for the Obama transition, Reid Cherlin, said staff there had to review the grant before they could comment.

Duvall called the HOT lane grant “a pretty good stimulus,” referring to a massive economic stimulus proposal for funding infrastructure projects that Congress is considering.

The details of the Atlanta project —- such as the price range of the tolls —- haven’t been decided.

In Georgia, the HOT lanes would probably charge tolls for single drivers and two-person car pools to let them drive in the lanes. The project also has legal hoops to clear. The Atlanta Regional Commission, made up of local officials, has to vote on the project and put it out for public comment for at least 30 days.

It doesn’t expect to vote until spring, but Chairman Sam Olens said the ARC is “100 percent on board.”

HOV lanes can be used only by cars with more than one passenger. They’re free.

HOT lanes can be used by a solo driver or a small car pool in exchange for a toll.