Editing High-occupancy vehicle lane (section)

==Variants==
===Business access and transit lane===

A business access and transit (BAT) lane is a type of HOV lane that allows for all traffic to enter the lane for a short distance in order to access other streets and business entrances.<ref>{{cite news |last=Murakami |first=Kery |date=October 17, 2008 |title=Answers to BAT lane questions |url=http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2008/10/17/answers-to-bat-lane-questions/ |work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]] |access-date=September 26, 2017 |archive-date=May 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523172316/https://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2008/10/17/answers-to-bat-lane-questions/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===High-occupancy toll lane===
{{Main|High-occupancy toll lane}}
Because some HOV lanes were not utilized to their full capacity, users of low- or single-occupancy vehicles may be permitted to use an HOV lane if they pay a toll. This scheme is known as [[high-occupancy toll lane]] (or HOT lanes), and it has been introduced mainly in the United States. The first practical implementation was [[California]]'s formerly private toll [[91 Express Lanes]], in [[Orange County, California]], in 1995, followed in 1996 by [[Interstate 15 in California|Interstate 15]] north of [[San Diego]].<ref>{{cite news |author = Dave Downey | date= 2007-01-07|url=http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/01/08/news/top_stories/1707192359.txt|title = The HOT lane hype |newspaper= The North County Times| access-date=2008-07-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Metropolitan Transportation Commission |url=http://www.mtc.ca.gov/planning/hov/faq.htm |title=High-Occupancy-Vehicle (HOV) and High-Occupancy/Toll (HOT) Lanes: Frequently Asked Questions |access-date=2008-03-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080603081534/http://www.mtc.ca.gov/planning/hov/faq.htm |archive-date=2008-06-03 }}</ref> According to the [[Texas A&M University|Texas A&M]] Transportation Institute, by 2012 there were 294 corridor-miles of HOT/Express lanes and 163 corridor-miles of HOT/Express lanes under construction in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uli.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/When-the-Road-Price-is-Right_web_F.pdf|title=When the Road Price Is Right – Land Use, Tolls, and Congestion Pricing|author=[[Urban Land Institute]] (ULI) |publisher=Urban Land Institute|year=2013|access-date=2013-04-09}} See Figure 2, pp.6</ref>

[[File:FasTrak Orange County.jpg|thumb|FasTrak RFID station in Orange County, California]]

Solo drivers are permitted to use the HOV lanes upon payment of a [[fee]] that varies based on demand. Tolls change throughout the day according to real-time traffic conditions, which is intended to manage the number of cars in the lanes to maintain good journey times.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nvta.org/content.asp?sl=459&contentid=468|title=Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003220739/http://www.nvta.org/content.asp?sl=459&contentid=468|archive-date=2015-10-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.planetizen.com/node/29851|title=Golden Gate Bridge for variable toll|last = Dawid|first = Irwin|date= 26 February 2008|website = Planetizen}}</ref>

Proponents claim that all motorists benefit from HOT lanes, even those who choose not to use them. This argument applies only to projects that increase the total number of lanes.<ref name=i495>{{cite web|url=http://www.vamegaprojects.com/about-megaprojects/i495-hot-lanes/|title=About I-495 HOT Lanes|access-date=31 August 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213101805/http://www.vamegaprojects.com/about-megaprojects/i495-hot-lanes/|archive-date=13 February 2010}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=November 2023}} Proponents also claim that HOT lanes provide an incentive to use transit and ridesharing.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} There has been controversy over this concept, and HOT schemes have been called "[[Lexus]]" lanes, as critics see this new pricing scheme as a perk for the rich.<ref>{{cite news|date= 2007-04-08|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601602.html|title=Not Such a HOT Idea: 'Lexus Lanes' Could Ruin Virginia's Highly Successful HOV System|author=Bob Hugman|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=2012-05-06}}</ref>

HOT tolls are collected by staffed [[Toll house|toll booth]]s, [[automatic number plate recognition]], or [[electronic toll collection]] systems. Some systems use [[RFID]] transmitters to monitor entry and exiting of the lane and charge drivers depending on demand. Typically, tolls increase as traffic density and congestion within the tolled lanes increase, a policy known as [[congestion pricing]]. The goal of this pricing scheme is to minimize traffic congestion within the lanes.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.expresslanes.com/faqs|website = 495-95 Express Lanes |title = FAQs }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brook.edu/views/op-ed/downs/20020510.htm|title=Brookings Institution economic study on HOT Lanes|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828202556/http://www.brook.edu/views/op-ed/downs/20020510.htm|archive-date=2008-08-28}}</ref>