University of California Institute of Transportation Studies

There are two operational objectives for optimizing the operation of HOT lanes: (i) maintain free-flow conditions on HOT lanes and (ii) move as many vehicles as possible through HOT lanes to minimize the travel corridor’s total delay. Meeting these objectives will help guarantee trip time reliability of both HOVs and paying SOVs and minimize congestion on general purpose (GP) lanes. The key factor in achieving these objectives is the price charged to SOVs, which determines the percentage of SOVs choosing to use the HOT lanes. This in turn requires operators to adjust the toll fee in response to changing levels of traffic congestion. However, achieving these goals efficiently is contingent upon dynamic pricing strategies where tolls are adjusted in real time in response to traffic levels to maximize the total throughput while preventing queuing on the HOT lanes.