A System of Toll Lanes in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Region: Technical and Policy Issues

摘要

MnPASS is the term used by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) to describe "express toll lanes." Express toll lanes provide a congestion-free alternative to highways with high congestion by charging a toll for drivers to use one or more specially designated highway lanes. Mn/DOT is considering two types of MnPASS lanes: high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, whereby existing (or proposed) high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes are opened up to non-HOV traffic for a toll; or new highway capacity adjacent to existing highways (either freeways or conventional highways), where all traffic except transit vehicles pays a toll. The overall objective of the study was to identify a potential Twin Cities Metropolitan Area MnPASS tolling lane system and to provide Mn/DOT and the Metropolitan Council with information on the cost, operational, revenue and system implications of that system. The intent was not to evaluate the benefits of tolled versus non-tolled capacity expansion, but rather to study a potential future system of express toll lanes. The main findings were: MnPASS lanes are a new transportation "product" that can provide a congestion-free alternative, as long as tolls are charged. MnPASS users enjoy significant time savings, but nonusers and the transit system are also expected to benefit. Public investment is required since the MnPASS lanes are not expected to be self-sustaining from tolls. Typical segments will recover about 15-55 percent of their capital cost; on average, only 22 percent of the regional MnPASS system capital costs could be expected to be recovered from tolls. Although not self-sustaining, new revenue from tolls can contribute to closing the transportation program funding gap. The most financially viable segments, to be built from scratch, are not in the region's 25-year Transportation Policy Plan (TPP). Advancing these projects would require modifying the TPP and likely delaying other projects. However, leveraging money in the TPP would require waiting many years, since the projects that are in the TPP also require an infusion of public investment. The HOT lanes currently operating on I-394 and proposed in this study on I-35W are expected to fill up with HOV traffic by 2030. Since HOVs cannot be priced out of the MnPASS lanes, the lanes are predicted to become congested and leave little room for paying vehicles. The long-term success of the HOT concept may require flexibility in the HOV definition, such as changing the definition from HOV 2+ to HOV 3+ or vanpools only.