OREM — Niels Fugal wants to be one of the first to try Utah's express lanes.

His work in commercial real estate requires him to spend quite a bit of time on I-15, Fugal says, and he doesn't always have a passenger with him.

Having the option to pay for the right to drive solo in the lane normally reserved for car-poolers is something worth trying, at least for a couple of months, he said.

"I think it's a great idea," said Fugal, who lives in Pleasant Grove. "I'll use it, and yet I don't travel that often at peak times."

Fugal was one of only about a dozen Utah County residents who attended a Utah Department of Transportation open house Tuesday night to learn more about high-occupancy toll or HOT lanes — now being called express lanes by UDOT.

Beginning in early September, the 38-mile stretch of car-pool lane between 600 North in Salt Lake City and University Parkway in Orem will become express lanes.

For $50 a month, the express lanes will allow vehicles with a single occupant to join car-poolers, buses, motorcycles and clean-fuel vehicles in the far left lane.

Motorists who want to use the lanes but travel alone will have to purchase one of the 600 permit stickers to place in the front and back windows of their vehicles.

UDOT spokesman Nile Easton said the stickers will go on sale at 8 a.m. Aug. 10 at the UDOT Web site, www.udot.utah.gov.

Currently, the car-pool lane is reaching less than half its capacity, Easton said. Letting motorists purchase driving privileges in the express lane will utilize excess capacity, he said.

By limiting those permits to just 600 — a very conservative number, Easton said — the additional cars will not disrupt the flow of traffic in the car-pool lane.

"We erring on the side of caution because we don't want to negatively affect car-poolers," he said. "If car-pooling magically tripled overnight, we would scrap the whole program."

UDOT will host another open house about express lanes June 29 at the Salt Lake Community College Miller Campus, 9750 S. 300 West, Sandy. The event will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

In April, the state Transportation Commission gave unanimous approval for UDOT to implement HOT lanes on I-15. The seven-member board, which prioritizes projects and funding for UDOT, was given authority to approve HOT lanes by the Legislature.

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