I-85 HOT lane: “Lexus Lanes” or an option for all? | www.myajc.com

As the state embarked on the biggest, most expensive innovation for Georgia drivers in generations — optional toll lanes — it promised to study and learn from the I-85 HOT lane pilot project.

But one of the touchiest questions about the High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lane — do wealthier people use it more often than less-monied motorists — remains unanswered by the state in spite of promises it would at least try to collect that data.

Instead, even as the state pushes full steam ahead with other optional toll projects for metro Atlanta, an advocacy group has taken a stab at such a study. Hobbled by lack of access to the state’s full data, the group called for deeper research, but still found provocative answers: People who live in high-income ZIP codes tend to use the lanes more often.

State transportation officials take issue with the study by the Southern Environmental Law Center, a group that advocates for “smart growth” and transit over highway-fueled suburban spread. However, the group’s findings line up with more thorough research done nationally.

Some commuters said it makes sense that people with higher incomes would be the most frequent users of HOT lanes.

Lilburn resident Virginia Smith is on disability and can’t afford to drive the I-85 HOT lane, although her taxes paid to install the toll system on the 16-mile stretch from the Perimeter in Atlanta to Old Peachtree Road in Gwinnett County. Her grandson bought her a Peach Pass — the electronic windshield sticker that’s required on vehicles using the lane — but it mostly sits idle.

“I don’t think you should have to pay,” said Smith. “A lot of people don’t have extra money for that.”

It cost about $60 million to convert the HOV lane to the HOT lane, according to state officials, and it operates at a deficit.

But state officials say the HOT lanes benefit people like Smith by simply existing and providing an option for that one day when she needs to get somewhere in a jiffy.

That’s how Cathy Johnson sees it. Though she drives a Lexus — and detractors deride the lanes as “Lexus Lanes” — it’s an older model and she says she’s not wealthy.

“I like it when I’m in a real big hurry,” said Johnson, who uses the HOT lane about twice a week. “It’s a blessing to have it then.”

Research across the nation on other HOT lane projects, such as the oldest one in California, tends to show that a wide range of people drive the lanes, rich and poor. But the people who drive the lanes more often have higher-than-average incomes.