Date published: 9/13/2005

In California, High Occupancy Toll lanes made some short-term gains, but just a few years later the roads were experiencing the same overcrowding ["A HOT time?" Aug. 31].

The tolls for the HOT lanes in California have tripled during the past 10 years. HOV users have to pay half the regular toll to use HOT lanes, and slugs split the cost.

It's easy to see why they are called "Lexus Lanes." A university study of California toll lanes showed that 58 percent of the drivers in the toll lanes earn more than $60,000 per year.

The private firm that built the lanes in California had a noncompete clause in its contract that barred the local government from adding more free lanes.

Congestion in the free lanes continued to increase, and the state had to buy the toll road from the private firm for $125 million more than it cost to build.

Private-public partnerships are not always a good deal. The problem is that the private side is more interested in making money than in protecting the public interest. The HOT lanes are run for profit, not for the public good.

A Washington, D.C., bypass on the Interstate 95 corridor would do more good in the long run to solve our traffic problems than HOT lanes.

Virginia's gas tax is among the lowest in the nation. It is good to have low taxes, but the result is billions of unmet needs in road construction.

Northern Virginia is further hurt by the fact that much of the money we collect is used in other areas of Virginia. You may not want to hear this, but the HOT lanes will not be the "big fix" they are proposed to be.

We would be better off biting the bullet and making the more expensive choice to commit to a bypass and add some local lanes.

Maybe we need a special Northern Virginia tax district to help fund it.

Walter Via

Stafford

Date published: 9/13/2005