Looking at ‘Lexus Lanes’

Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006 | 7:05 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Facing a $3.8 billion shortfall in highway funding over the next decade, some Nevada officials are pondering an unpleasant idea that could have drivers seeing red even more so than when they are staring at a miles-long line of brake lights: toll roads.

To alleviate the region's mounting gridlock, state and regional transportation officials want the Legislature to consider a new carpool lane system crisscrossing Southern Nevada that could double as toll roads.

Drivers would have the option of doubling up in a carpool, shelling out a few bucks to ride solo in the new lane or slogging along in regular traffic.

Critics nationwide deride such projects as "Lexus Lanes" that cater to those who can pay while most commuters suffer in gridlock.

Regardless, the upcoming debate could force Las Vegans to decide whether they are willing to pay for something that has been free for most of their lives.

Kent Cooper, the Nevada Transportation Department's assistant director of planning, hopes to find out in January when it unveils its Las Vegas area proposal.

Funding freeways is expected to be a priority at the 2007 Legislature.

"If I want to drive my own vehicle through the middle of Las Vegas, should I be charged a little more? As the urban area gets more congested, that's the question," Cooper said. "We need to change our thought process and how we view transportation."

Earlier this month, outgoing Gov. Kenny Guinn's blue ribbon task force on transportation reported the sobering news that traffic is expected to grind to a halt in the not-too-distant future unless substantial improvements are made to the highway system.

Wary of suggesting a tax increase, the task force proposed closing the multibillion-dollar funding gap by shifting state general funds to transportation and increasing by $20 the fees paid for driver's licenses.

But the committee also suggested allowing private firms to develop highways and charge tolls - controversial concepts that would change the way the highway infrastructure has been built in the state.

Nationwide, the notion of toll roads and private ownership of the freeways has been gaining traction since the Bush administration made the ideas cornerstones of its transportation policy.

A handful of states have built so-called High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes - carpool lanes that double as toll lanes for those riding alone - and the U.S. Transportation Department reports increases in privately built toll roads.

Alan Pisarski, a national transportation expert and author of "Commuting in America," calls the trend toward privatization the "third wave" in the nation's fickle relationship with the way it finances highway construction.

"It's going to have a role, a real place, especially in a society now where we all seem to be squeezed financially," he said. "I'm sure there are going to be conflicts."

Various bills are expected to go before the Legislature, including one from Assemblyman Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, who has grown tired of wasting precious minutes in traffic just to connect between Interstates 15 and 215.

"That's what's happening anytime we're going anywhere now," he said. "It used to be the Spaghetti Bowl. Now it's all over the place."

Hardy's bill would permit the proposed Boulder City Bypass to be built by a private company as a toll road, but also could be used on other projects as well.

He dismisses critics who argue that toll roads are for the rich.

"I'm not sure I ever saw a Lexus in one of them," he said. "Right now everybody's sitting in traffic. If we lighten the load, we will help everybody."

Gov.-elect Jim Gibbons favors the idea of having private companies engaged in public-private partnerships in some scenarios, but has not decided whether he supports privately built highways, spokesman Brent Boynton said.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said all options need to be on the table. Tolls, he said, are "worth considering. I can't say I would necessarily support it. It would depend on the location, the usage, the amount of revenues."

Assemblyman John Oceguera. D-Las Vegas, calls toll lanes "one of those issues people just have fundamental differences on.

"They think it's a fine thing, they're OK with it or they think it's the worse thing in the world," he said. "I'm open to look at it ... I wouldn't be betting it would fly through at a high speed."

Republican Rep. Jon Porter also has weighed in, saying toll roads should be considered. He hosted a federal Transportation Department official last summer to see whether the state could tap into its pilot programs.

Guinn's task force painted a dismal view of future traffic if Nevada is unable to fund its transportation infrastructure needs, predicting that highways would gradually slow to stop-and-go conditions as the population soars.

Toll roads would help pay for only about 10 percent of the massive $3.8 billion shortfall. But more than money, traffic planners believe the tolls would help change behavior by, among other things, making commuters rethink traveling during rush hour when it's at its worst and tolls would be at their highest.

The Regional Transportation Commission in Clark County is looking at ways to put buses in the new carpool lanes, giving commuters a mass transit option.