Gov. Nathan Deal said Friday that he felt compelled to act swiftly to reduce tolls on the just-opened I-85 express lanes, because if the project fails, it could endanger plans for more HOT lanes on other congested highways.
HOT lanes feature prominently in plans to reduce traffic congestion throughout metro Atlanta, with another 41 miles slated for completion in the next five years and hundreds of additional miles in coming decades.
"If toll lanes are going to be the future ... then we don't want to leave any unnecessary bad taste in the public's mouth," Deal told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Sustained public rejection of the I-85 lanes, which had attracted fewer than 5,000 drivers a day through Thursday, would put "a serious damper on any future projects," the governor said.
However, beyond adjusting the formula by which tolls are calculated, in the hopes that lower costs will attract more drivers, there is little Deal can do in the short term to stem the tide of criticism that met the lanes' debut.
Neither of the other fixes he is pledged to pursue -- making the lanes free for two-occupant vehicles and increasing the number of access points -- can be accomplished in less than several months, if at all, state and federal transportation planners said Friday.
And, as for the people who just want the HOT lanes scrapped, they can forget it.
"Millions of dollars have been invested in this project," said Deal spokesman Brian Robinson. Much of that money came from the federal government, and it carried certain conditions, including the requirement that a vehicle have at least three occupants to use the lanes at no cost.
Deal said he will seek a waiver to reduce that number to two, but Nancy Singer, spokeswoman for the Federal Highway Administration, said it's too early to consider such a fundamental change.
"We would expect the state to honor its commitment," Singer said in an email. The federal agency is not inflexible, she wrote, but "we need to give it some time."
As for the prospect of easing access onto the HOT lanes by adding entry points, state transportation officials said such changes could take months. Officials are awaiting a consultant's report on the number and locations of potential new entry points. Design work and construction must follow, said state DOT spokesman Karlene Barron.
Deal said he would prioritize the work, but it remains unclear what officials can do to speed up what was already a front-burner project.
"It's gonna be faster -- how much faster, I don't know," Barron said. "It's going to take a while."
The work will focus on a 6-mile southbound stretch of I-85 in Gwinnett County, from Old Peachtree Road to Indian Trail Road. That stretch currently lacks any access points, and drivers have complained that they must crawl through miles of congested traffic to enter the HOT lanes.
Traffic on the HOT lanes increased from 3,217 vehicles on Monday to 4,718 on Thursday. Officials said they were encouraged by the fact that the agency is issuing 1,700 Peach Passes each day.
Meanwhile, the complaints just keep coming.
Joan Self, a steel salesperson based in Norcross, said Friday that she now avoids I-85 when possible because of the HOT lanes. And if she takes that route, she said she’ll refuse to take the HOT lanes out of principle.
“We’re supposed to be happy that [the governor] reduced the fee,” she said. “Give me a break. We already paid for that lane, everybody who has lived in Georgia all of their lives have paid for that lane.”
Self said her daughter has used the lane a few times but seems unaware of just how much her electronic Peach Pass has been charged per trip.
“She doesn’t have a clue how much she is paying for it,” she said.
Victor Ramkissoon began an anti-HOT lane Facebook page one month ago after learning the project would alter his daily commute from Snellville to Sandy Springs. Ramkissoon, an IT salesperson, carpooled each workday with his girlfriend on the HOV lanes, and wasn’t pleased with his new options: pay a varying rate to take the same road as before, or find a third passenger.
When the HOT lanes were unveiled Monday, he had about 20 fans for his Facebook page,
By mid-week, about 1,000 fans. And by Friday, nearly 3,000 had joined his online cause to vent their frustrations.
“It’s frustrating when you’re stuck in traffic, and the [HOT] lane beside you is empty,” he said.
The region's long-term transportation plan envision a system of tolled lanes on just about every interstate. Officials say there is simply no longer enough money to build enough roads to accommodate the region’s commuters. Giving drivers the option of saving time by paying to use the HOT lanes is one way to help fill the gap, they say.
Deal said he supports putting HOT lanes on other interstates only if they are created by adding new lanes, not by converting existing HOV lanes as occurred on I-85. The planned HOT lane project on I-75/I-575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties would add lanes.
However, in the long term, the state's plan calls for converting all HOV lanes to lanes that are also accessible, with payment of a toll, to low-occupancy vehicles.
The HOT lane tolls are calculated trhough a complicated formula that balances the cost per mile against the level of traffic. Before Deal changed the formula Thursday, the maximum that had actually been charged to travel the full 15.5 miles was $5.50; under the new pricing it will be $3.05, Robinson said.
"Georgians are just not used to paying tolls like New Jersey and New York," he said.
About 10 other U.S. cities employ HOT lanes, and some also went through a rocky start.
Bob Poole, director of transportation for the Reason Foundation and considered the creator the HOT lane concept, pointed to Miami’s troubles with HOT Lanes.
“I can tell you the first couple of weeks, people didn’t know what to make of it, even though there had been lots and lots of outreach,” he said. Ultimately, the Florida DOT put out more education materials and police got involved to help usher traffic, he said.
“It settled down after a few weeks, and after few months it became popular," he said. "Lots of people figured out they’d save time by using them.”
Staff writer Katie Leslie contributed to this report.
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