Value Pricing

Value pricing is a general term that describes direct user fees for roads. Traditionally, direct user fees have levied on roads with toll booths. With enhancements in toll collection technologies, the traditional inconvenience of toll paying has been eliminated, and new types of fee structures can be explored. One such concept is a High-Occupancy/Toll (HOT) Lane. HOT lanes are HOV lanes that are made available to low-occupancy vehicles (LOVs) for a fee.

The TPB is currently conducing value pricing analyses for the Washington region. Two value pricing projects are included in the CLPR (Beltway HOT Lanes in Virginia and the Intercounty Connector in Maryland), and a third is being studied.

The TPB has recently been awared a U.S. Federal Highway Administration grant for a Value Pricing Pilot Program. The work done under this grant will help develop a Phase 1 scenario for a network of value priced lanes in the Washington region. For more information on the TPB's value pricing work, please visit the TPB's Value Pricing Task Force web page.