HOV lanes not currently making enough money to meet maintenance demands

SALT LAKE CITY — Cheaters in the carpool lanes are making it hard for the Utah Department of Transportation to collect the money they need to maintain those lanes.

Since they became available at the end of August, electronic transponders installed in approximately 8,300 vehicles along the Wasatch Front — allowing drivers to duck in and out of the carpool lane whenever other traffic might not be moving as smoothly — are collecting about $38,000 each month. It is estimated that sometime this year, UDOT will begin paying contractors about $40,000 per month for 24-hour maintenance on the equipment.

"The electronic payment system was set up to help manage the traffic flow, not necessarily to raise revenue," said Dave Kinnecom, UDOT's traffic management engineer. He said the system is working as it was intended to and that the completion of express lane expansions in Utah County will only add to the current revenues, allowing UDOT to break even on operation costs.

The trouble is that as the number of cars traveling in the express lane increases, so does the toll, up to $1 in any specific zone along the more than 40 miles of express lane, stretching from Layton to Lehi. New construction will extend the lane to 62 miles, longer than any in the country, according to UDOT.

Cars without the transponders and containing only one occupant are in violation of the law whenever they enter the express lane. The signs are set up with different colored lights on the back of the signs to help the Utah Highway Patrol locate such offenders.

"It is definitely something we watch for," UHP trooper Todd Johnson said. "It is not entirely difficult. … Sometimes drivers will give themselves away."

Troopers use the lights as well as a series of visual confirmations to identify illicit vehicles in the express lanes. While two troopers are dedicated to those lanes during the morning and evening commutes, Johnson said all troopers pay attention when they are traveling to and from various calls, as well as during their own commute times.

The lights and fluctuating prices in varying zones also help to keep traffic moving and maintain at least a 55 mph speed limit in the lane at all times, Kinnecom said. The system adjusts automatically according to the volume of cars passing beneath the electronic signs and the speed at which they are traveling.