Abstract:
Last week I called on Virginia Transportation Secretary Shirley Ybarra to emulate on the Dulles
Toll Road the Greenway’s lower toll for drivers with Smart Card, thus reducing congestion at toll
plazas with gates dedicated to Smart Carders. For some reason, she hasn’t yet adopted my
suggestion.
So let’s up the ante. During commuting hours, congestion at toll gates is bad, but congestion the
length of non-HOV lanes is worse. Why not permit solo drivers to buy their way onto Dulles
HOV lanes by paying a higher toll? This would reduce congestion for solo drivers who shift left
and those who don’t. Vehicles with 2 or more occupants might have more company in HOV
lanes, but a variable toll policy based on monitored congestion would perpetuate free flow in
HOV lanes.
