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The vast majority of people who take part in slugging say they'll continue the practice after toll lanes are put in. |
By KELLY HANNON
While toll lanes on Interstate 95 will let drivers pay their way out of traffic, commuters are mostly saying, no thanks.
Instead, a majority of Northern Virginia commuters plan to keep carpooling, vanpooling and hopping a bus or train.
Also, roughly four in five people who participate in slugging--82 percent--said they will continue to line up to form instant carpools after toll lanes replace High Occupancy Vehicle lanes.
The group most likely to switch methods? Solo drivers. Only 53 percent of respondents said they would continue to drive alone after toll lanes open.
Virginia commissioned an online survey to look at commuter behavior in the I-95 corridor in advance of the toll-lane project.
The results show commuters overwhelmingly intend to stick with their current mode of travel.
"They will not change their commute in any way when HOT lanes are open and functional," said Corey Hill, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation's chief of transit and congestion management.
Hill shared survey results with the Commonwealth Transportation Board in Richmond Wednesday. The online survey was conducted last summer and targeted commuters who travel northbound on I-95 on weekday mornings.
A private partnership, Fluor-Transurban, intends to expand HOV lanes on I-95 to the Massaponax area by 2014. It will widen the two-lane HOV corridor to three lanes from Arlington to Dumfries.
Under the proposal, vehicles with three or more occupants will continue to ride for free. But vehicles with one or two occupants can pay a toll to use the lanes. Tolls will fluctuate based on the time of day and level of traffic.
The toll-lane proposal sparked fear in the slugging community, Hill said.
Slugs worried that drivers would prefer to pay the toll rather than stop at commuter lots to pick up the extra two riders needed to use the lanes at rush hour, Hill said.
With more than 80 percent of sluggers pledging to continue, and 81 percent of carpoolers insisting they will stick with it, there should be no reason to fear, Hill said.
The incentive to pick up slugs has always been saving time, said CTB member Douglas Koelemay of Springfield. Now, drivers will simply have an added financial incentive, he said. Drivers who pick up slugs would avoid tolls that could run $50 or more for a one-way trip at rush hour.
Tolls must adjust to a point where traffic continues to flow at 55 mph. This could take $1.60 a mile at peak travel times to achieve, according to one government estimate. Fluor-Transurban has estimated tolls approaching $1 a mile at peak travel times.
Vanpoolers were the most loyal to their method, with 95 percent intending to continue after HOT lanes open.
The survey had good news for the Virginia Railway Express, with 86 percent of train commuters pledging to stay on board. Commuter buses are another popular mode of transit, with 91 percent of users committed to riding.
Proceeds from the toll lane project and federal money could generate around $300 million for transit.
The state intends to use some of that money to expand public transit in the I-95 corridor, beefing up bus service from the Fredericksburg area, adding VRE cars to existing trains and expanding Park & Ride lots.
Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436|
When toll lanes open on Interstate 95, will commuters switch travel methods?
A survey taken last summer drew 3,289 respondents. Among them were 917 solo drivers, 686 train riders, 606 slugs, 389 bus riders, 356 carpool riders, 268 vanpool riders and 67 people who categorized their mode as "other." The survey has a 95 percent confidence rate. Here's how many said they would will stick with their current method of commuting. 95 percent of vanpoolers 91 percent of bus riders86 percent 82 percent of slugs 81 percent 53 percent |
