Interstates 95/395/495 HOV/Bus/HOT Lanes Projects

What are HOT lanes?

The Interstate 95/395 corridor currently has two High Occupancy Vehicle lanes (HOV) that run from the Pentagon to Dumfries. Vehicles that carry three or more passengers, and vehicles exempted from the HOV regulations can travel the HOV lanes instead of the general use lanes of I-95 during the designated morning and afternoon HOV periods.

The High Occupancy Toll lanes (HOT) concept is the next generation of HOV. HOV-eligible motorists still ride for free while non-HOV motorists can choose to pay a toll to access the lanes.

HOT lanes projects are proposed for the I-95/395 corridor from the Pentagon area to Massaponax and also for the Interstate 495/Capital Beltway.

Who benefits from these proposed HOT lanes?

HOT lanes will benefit all who use I-95 or the Capital Beltway. 

HOT lanes benefit those who use the lanes by providing a new transportation alternative — to pay a toll to ride lanes that are managed with tolling and state-of-the-art technology to ensure free-flowing traffic.

Motorists who choose to drive in free lanes will also benefit because there will be fewer cars in regular lanes as a result of motorists who decide to carpool or pay to use the HOT lanes.

The HOT lanes projects will also create and expand HOV, transit and carpooling opportunities for residents throughout the Northern Virginia and Fredericksburg areas.

Why do we need HOT lanes in Northern Virginia and Fredericksburg?

The commonwealth is looking for innovative solutions that can quickly address one of the most congestion-prone areas in the country. HOT lanes provide an innovative solution that will bring new transportation choices to customers in this area and will benefit carpoolers, vanpoolers, transit riders, motorists, slugs, businesses and communities throughout the area.

Virginia is among the first few states to pursue this cutting-edge congestion-management strategy. The commonwealth and Fluor-Transurban are partnering to develop two projects that will introduce the benefits of congestion pricing as a traffic-management tool.

Why allow the private sector to build these highways and charge tolls?

VDOT is evaluating a proposal from Fluor-Transurban to create this much-needed infrastructure much sooner than traditional funding and construction methods would allow. The Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 provides for these types of innovative partnerships to build public infrastructure projects.

The Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 is the legislative framework that enables the commonwealth, local governments and other public entities to enter into agreements with private entities to acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and/or operate qualifying transportation facilities.

The act provides a unique mechanism for supplementing public funds available for transportation in the commonwealth.

When will construction begin on these projects?

VDOT and Fluor-Transurban are working toward a late 2008 timeline to complete the environmental review process and sign a comprehensive agreement on the northern section of the project.

This would allow construction to begin on the northern section in 2008 and the southern section in 2009.

What are the latest developments?

On Oct. 24, 2006, VDOT and Fluor-Transurban signed an interim agreement to advance the I-95/395 HOV/Bus/HOT Lanes project. Fluor-Transurban is moving forward with preliminary engineering, operations plans, and traffic and revenue studies.

VDOT and Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation will host a series of citizen information meetings along the I-95/395 corridor as part of our ongoing efforts to educate the public about the I-95/395 HOV/Bus/High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes project.

We are also using these meetings to collect public comments as part of the continuing National Environmental Policy Act review for this project.

Your input is valuable as we look at the potential environmental impacts of the northern and southern portions of the proposed I-95/395 HOT lanes project and the I-95/395 Regional Transit/Transportation Demand Management Study in this corridor. The five meetings will be held between July 23 and July 30 in various locations throughout the project corridor.

Meeting schedule >