Virginia HOT lanes
The project began when Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) signed an agreement with Fluor Corporation and Transurban in April 2005 to create HO/T lanes between Springfield and Georgetown Pike.
The project cost $1.4 billion and was controversial due to concerns over its cost-effectiveness and the environmental effects (such as surface runoff and use of parkland) of widening the Capital Beltway.
The toll rates change dynamically according to traffic conditions, which in turn regulates demand for the lanes and keep them operating at high speeds.
[6] State Police positioned at toll plazas are notified electronically if a vehicle is using the EZ-Pass Flex in HOV mode.
[9] In March 2022, VDOT and Transurban commenced on a two and a half mile northern extension of the I-495 HOT lanes from VA 267 to just south of the American Legion Memorial Bridge (4-4 to 4-2-2-4 configuration).
Road improvements included: The original proposal was for the lanes to extend the entire length of the then-existing HOV facility, reaching the District of Columbia.
In February 2011, VDOT said the lawsuit created a "detrimental" delay to the project, with Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton saying, "We can no longer wait to deliver congestion relief and new travel choices.
North of that point, the reversible lanes continued to operate under the pre-existing rules imposing an HOV-3 restriction during peak hours, allowing all traffic at other times, and not requiring an E-ZPass.
Since the original portion of the HOV facility opened in the 1970s, an informal car pool system called "slugging"[17] has evolved around the reversible lanes.
Drivers of cars with only one or two passengers stop at designated points and pick up strangers in order to meet the HOV-3 requirement.
Traffic leaving the District of Columbia is not subject to the same restriction and may use the express roadway toll-free up to, and including, the Eads Street/Pentagon exit.
It allows drivers to pay the toll, use the road, Carpool or Vanpool with an E-ZPass Flex, or use Public Transportation.
[25] This is the first time single-occupancy vehicles are permitted to use I-66 inside the Beltway during rush hours, as the road has been subject to HOV restrictions since it opened in 1982.
Operating hours are: Heavy trucks are prohibited on the express lanes, which are limited to vehicles with two axles; buses, motorcycles, and carpools may ride for free.
