52 miles of HOT lanes being built with plans to serve expanded GRTA routes (Atlanta: how much, construction)

[tikigod311]

This looks pretty good.

I see a future where the state goes heavy on commuter buses in managed lanes, has some success, and then never considers any investment in rail.



Managed lanes are interesting though. If / when autonomous cars become a thing, the first place to roll them out will be grade separated lanes. Considering this ROW is already exclusive, it would be easy to prohibit non-autonomous vehicles and allow for insanely high speeds. On this idea alone, managed lanes sounds like a good idea. Without this future, it seems wasteful. Autonomous vehicles is where the value in managed lanes will be realized.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

This looks pretty good.

I see a future where the state goes heavy on commuter buses in managed lanes, has some success, and never considers any investment in rail.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

This looks pretty good.

I see a future where the state goes heavy on commuter buses in managed lanes, has some success, and never considers any investment in rail.



Managed lanes are interesting though. If / when autonomous cars become a thing, the first place to roll them out will be grade separated lanes. Considering this ROW is already exclusive, it would be easy to prohibit non-autonomous vehicles and allow for insanely high speeds. On this idea alone, managed lanes sounds like a good idea. Without this future, it seems wasteful. Autonomous vehicles is where the value in managed lanes will be realized.

Autonomous vehicles will cost local governments big bucks.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by Gulch

The bus works ok, so they don't consider investing in commuter rail.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Autonomous vehicles will cost local governments big bucks.

Hey, that's a good thing! Making money off people's mistakes shouldn't be sustained. But it is something to consider.

My point is, one of the biggest costs to being ready for autonomous vehicles is taken care of by managed lanes. I could see where the cities that have a bunch of these grade separated luxury lanes will be ahead of the curve in transportation, and they didn't even plan on it.

[AtlantaIsHot]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

What is exactly meant by "managed lane?"

Anybody who commutes on I-85 knows that HOT lanes are a joke. I've experimented with them for a couple of years now, and under ideal circumstances, you can save about 10 minutes between Chamblee Tucker and Sugarloaf Parkway. Most times, you save a bit less. Sometimes, you save nothing at all.

If GRTA thinks that people are going to ride buses to save a maximum of 10 minutes, and possibly zero, it's got another thing coming.

The only way to get people to ride transit is with right of way. If the buses had dedicated lanes that were physically separate from the highway (so jerk drivers couldn't use them when they felt like it) and the trip from Sugarloaf to I-285 was a completely reliable 15 or 20 minutes completely regardless of what traffic was doing, the idea might have a shot. But I don't think that's what we're talking about here.

As Taylor Swift says on the radio, "Band-aids don't fix bullet holes."

This is a joke and a waste of time and money that could be invested in actual meaningful projects.

I have no issue with HOT lanes. I think these are going up in almost all metropolitan areas. Washington, DC now has them on the Beltway I think. The high cost of just maintaining our current road network is astronomical. That money must come from somewhere, though I do feel there should be a set price and the lanes should be closed to new cars once it reaches a certain point in order to maintain flow. Our society likes to build NEW roads, but doesn't understand they must be maintained for extremely long periods of time. The US as a whole has not invested in the future as it should have. NO! NEW! ROADS! is my philosophy. I support interchange improvements (turbine) where warranted, non-tolled reversible lanes, tolled HOV lanes, lane-separated BRT, and lane separation into local and express lanes. These are the ONLY road expansions/improvements I support under the current situation. The rest needs to go to commuter rail, light rail, and MARTA where applicable.

I realize my views are stern, but Americans are going to have to get over their free-roads-come-from-thin-air ways.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

It had to be done!!!!!


I don't think separation will solve anything. If others can use it, they will. The buses will have no way to move through traffic faster than anybody else, so why would anyone go through the trouble of rising a bus?

Works perfectly well in other places. Those in the HOT lanes move faster than the regular lanes. Barring an accident, they should keep moving at 55.

[bu2]

Houston has had separated HOV lanes for over 25 years and they work very well. They are open to buses and Houston's expansive park-n-ride system, van pools and car pools (with varying limits 2, 3, or 4 depending on the road). They are adding lanes when re-constructing freeways and converting them to HOT lanes as they have done in I-10 west. With HOT lanes they have variable pricing to keep them free flowing.

Now I-85 was a bit of a mess because they didn't add new capacity. They just converted a diamond lane.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by AtlantaIsHot

I have no issue with HOT lanes. I think these are going up in almost all metropolitan areas. Washington, DC now has them on the Beltway I think. The high cost of just maintaining our current road network is astronomical. That money must come from somewhere, though I do feel there should be a set price and the lanes should be closed to new cars once it reaches a certain point in order to maintain flow. Our society likes to build NEW roads, but doesn't understand they must be maintained for extremely long periods of time. The US as a whole has not invested in the future as it should have. NO! NEW! ROADS! is my philosophy. I support interchange improvements (turbine) where warranted, non-tolled reversible lanes, tolled HOV lanes, lane-separated BRT, and lane separation into local and express lanes. These are the ONLY road expansions/improvements I support under the current situation. The rest needs to go to commuter rail, light rail, and MARTA where applicable.

I realize my views are stern, but Americans are going to have to get over their free-roads-come-from-thin-air ways.

Commuter rail, light rail and HRT must be maintained for extremely long periods of time also. Not only that, but you have to subsidize operations.

[bu2]

HOT lanes and GRTA (or some other agency) express buses is the right path for remote suburban areas.