A statistical breakdown of those who paid $50 for High Occupancy Toll lane permits shows nearly 43 percent drive Fords, Toyotas, Chevrolets, Hondas and Dodges. Only two traditionally luxury makes, Lexus and BMW, cracked the top 10 on the 34-make list of cars of drivers who bought their way into the diamond lane.
A couple of Hummers, two Land Rovers and two Saabs are in the genteel bottom 10 along with one Alfa Romeo, one Maserati and one Range Rover.
The proletarian demographics don't surprise UDOT, said spokesman Nile Easton. Other states that allow paid access to carpool lanes assured UDOT that elite, rich drivers wouldn't hog the high-occupancy toll lane permits. "We were hoping that would be true, and it appears to be," he said.
Solo commuters eager to pay $50 per month to drive Interstate 15 carpool lanes, also known as high-occupancy vehicle lanes normally restricted to vehicles carrying at least two people, bought all 600 permits in an hour and 22 minutes when they were made available for the first time Aug. 10.
On Monday, UDOT offered 750 more permits; as of Wednesday evening, about 130 were still available.
The agency is making changes to ensure the program's safety, including 40 new signs that alert drivers when they should exit the restricted lane to get to their offramps safely.
The signs were motorists' idea, Easton said.
The carpool lanes are marked off by double white lines that serve the same purpose as would concrete barriers to control traffic on the 38-mile-long HOV/HOT lane. UDOT striped 15 1,500-foot-long entry-exit pockets between 600 North in Salt Lake City and University Parkway in Orem.
The pockets allow people to safely leave the lane in time to cross four lanes of traffic to the exit and to keep drivers from zipping in and out by passing on the right. The exit points are long enough to allow drivers to decrease or increase their speed to match the general lanes' speeds.
But drivers complained there were too few access points and that they were too short. So UDOT has changed the striping to add 1,000 feet to the pockets and added two more pockets in Utah County and one more at Bangerter Highway in Salt Lake County.
During September, UDOT received more than 300 e-mails and as many calls about the system. Many were detailed analyses of problems encountered and possible solutions. Others questioned whether the system is democratic. "The car pool lane along I-15 should be kept for car pool users, not for those who can afford a monthly pass," an e-mailer said. "It should help curb emissions, instead of being a lane for the wealthy."
Easton said UDOT heard from a woman who calculated the time she saved cut her day care center costs enough to more than pay the $50 fee.
But the real reason for the lane is to reduce congestion in the general-use lanes, where UDOT wants 10 to 15 percent fewer cars.
The HOT lanes are teaching UDOT new skills. "We're actually now selling something, we have customers. This is a much more direct business relationship," Easton said. "I was surprised by how emotionally tied people were to that lane."
HOT Lane
The HOT lane program is a two- to three-year experimental prelude to electronic tolling, an option legislators and highway planners are considering for future projects to offset costs and reduce congestion.
HOT lane permits are available at https://secure.utah.gov/expresslanes/action/public/index.
