HOV LANE EVALUATION AND MONITORING AND THE POLITICAL PROCESS IN WASHINGTON STATE

The high occupancy vehicle (HOV) system in the Seattle, Washington, area comprises 306 km (191 mi) of freeway HOV lanes open to traffic. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) operates this freeway HOV system. The effectiveness of the HOV system is under constant and increasing public scrutiny (especially when the state legislature is in session). To avoid legislation that prescribes how to operate the HOV system, WSDOT has voluntarily made some modifications in HOV system operation. WSDOT has developed statewide policy that covers HOV operation. The Puget Sound Regional Council, the local metropolitan planning organization, convened an HOV Policy Committee to review the entire WSDOT HOV lane operating policies. The Committee suggested some changes to the statewide policy to make it more appropriate locally. The WSDOT Office of Urban Mobility (OUM) helps coordinate contacts with the state legislature. OUM also assembles an annual legislative packet about HOV issues that is distributed to every legislator. To provide data about the effectiveness of the system, an HOV lane evaluation and monitoring project has been ongoing for over 10 years. This monitoring project routinely collects vehicle occupancy and travel time data. The project also includes an extensive public opinion survey and collection of HOV violation and safety information. Funding for the monitoring project has varied in response to management priorities. The project's annual report combines various data into five primary measures of effectiveness: vehicle volumes, person volume, average vehicle occupancy, speed and trip reliability, and travel time. Three secondary measures of effectiveness are HOV violations, safety, and public opinion. The data are being put onto the Internet in an interactive format that will allow analysts to easily select the specific data they desire. The annual report is available by hard copy or on the Internet. Enforcement of and education about the HOV lanes are ongoing. The Washington State Patrol writes tickets to motorists observed violating the HOV lane occupancy restriction. The HERO program is a service that encourages motorists to voluntarily report HOV violators. The HERO program is primarily an educational effort that is a vital part of enforcement. The number of reported violations has increased steadily since 1993, with the total annual number of reported violators now exceeding 40,000.

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• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/3191
• Supplemental Notes:
  • To access an electronic version of this publication and other related publications visit the ITS Electronic Document Library (EDL): www.its.dot.gov/welcome.htm.
• Corporate Authors:

  Texas Transportation Institute

  Texas A&M University System, 1600 E Lamar Boulevard
  Arlington, TX  United States  76011

  Federal Highway Administration

  Office of Travel Management, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Jacobson, E L
• Conference:
  • 10th International Conference on High-Occupancy Vehicle Systems
  • Location: Dallas, Texas
  • Date: 2000-8-27 to 2000-8-30
• Publication Date: 2001-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 1-36
• Monograph Title: 10TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HIGH-OCCUPANCY VEHICLE SYSTEMS: COMPENDIUM OF TECHNICAL PAPERS

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Data collection; Education; Evaluation; Freeways; High occupancy vehicle lanes; Highway safety; Measures of effectiveness; Metropolitan planning organizations; Monitoring; Policy; Politics; Public opinion; Traffic law enforcement; Traffic violations; Travel time; Vehicle occupancy
• Geographic Terms: Washington (State)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Security and Emergencies; Society; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00928001
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-OP-01-041,, EDL Document No. 13482, EDL Document No. 13482,
• Contract Numbers: DTFH61-96-6-000048-PB-F9902
• Files: NTL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 2 2002 12:00AM