industry news

Trucks could get toll lanes on interstates
JANET FRANKSTON of Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta, GA - 8/1/2005 - The most dramatic suggestion yet about how to reduce metro Atlanta's notorious traffic congestion involves giving trucks their own lanes.

A study by the State Road and Tollway Authority suggests that metro Atlanta's interstate highway system would be 20 percent less crowded if new car pool lanes proposed along I-285 and outside it were truck-only toll lanes instead.

The authority used data and computer programs that simulate traffic from the Atlanta Regional Commission's Mobility 2030 plan. That blueprint, which spends $53 billion in federal, state and local transportation money over 25 years, shows that, while congestion doesn't get worse, it doesn't get better.

Doug Hooker, the authority's executive director, said he was so surprised by the study results that he asked for the models to be rerun several times.

The study, which assumed two cars per one truck, didn't go into much detail, said Erik Steavens, the agency's senior transportation analyst. For example, it didn't get into specifics such as the number of exits from potential truck lanes or whether it's even feasible to put extra lanes within the right of way of some interstate highways. In the study, tolls were assumed to be charged only when traffic stopped moving at a consistent pace.

The study, which cost $616,657, looked at three scenarios:

• Adding two voluntary truck-only toll lanes in each direction along I-285 and outside it along I-75 and I-85 in the metro area for 24 hours a day. Those lanes would be in addition to the planned high-occupancy vehicle network.

• The same scenario, except for also allowing trucks to use the car pool lanes inside I-285 as truck-only toll lanes from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Converting the planned HOV network along I-285 and outside it to truck-only toll lanes, two lanes in each direction for 24-hour voluntary use.

Steavens said the purpose of the study was to determine how to make transportation dollars stretch the furthest using the new highway lanes already planned for metro Atlanta.

Because the tolls envisioned by the study would be voluntary, truckers aren't condemning it. Representatives of the trucking industry helped with the study by providing data and cost estimates, said Ed Carter, chairman of the board of the Georgia Motor Trucking Association.

"It's an idea that has a lot of potential and needs further study," said Carter, who is director of fleet operations for Atlanta-based Acuity Brands Lighting. "That's not to say it's a doable thing at this point."

Even though truck-only toll lanes could impose a new fee on trucks, keeping the trucks moving rather than sitting in traffic could be worth the money, he said.

"Time is essential, and the only way the truck makes money is when the truck is moving," Carter said. "Anytime we can cut out a few hours and get better utilization from the equipment, we would have to evaluate doing that."

But he said mandatory tolls wouldn't sit well with the industry. "There are times when there would be no advantage and no time savings," Carter said. "It would be adding expense."

The road authority's results have impressed regional leaders so much that they want to study the idea more.

Sam Olens, chairman of both the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Congestion Mitigation Task Force, appointed by the governor, said the idea is promising.

"Whenever you turn to the radio station and hear a traffic report, it's not a Honda Accord that left three lanes impassible, it's a tractor-trailer," said Olens, who is also Cobb County Commission chairman.

He said taking trucks out of traffic intermingled with cars could improve safety as well as congestion. "We certainly get nervous when we see a truck get too close to us," he said.

The authority isn't the only agency thinking about trucks. The Georgia Department of Transportation is undertaking its own statewide study of truck movement, said Joe Palladi, state planning administrator.

At the same time, the ARC has started to solicit proposals for a study of freight movement -- by truck, train and air -- throughout the 18-county Atlanta region, said Jane Hayes, the ARC's head of transportation planning.
Voluntary truck-only toll lanes could help relieve traffic congestion on metro Atlanta interstates, a study suggests.