Slog

Tim Eyman sent out a blast email this morning claiming that opponents of his latest initiative, I-985, only want rich people to be able to drive alone in carpool lanes. (His initiative, in contrast, would open carpool lanes to everyone, including solo soccer moms in suburban assault vehicles, for most of the day, including hours when traffic is already congested). Eyman’s explanation for this audacious claim: Enviros (who oppose I-985) do support high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes—HOV lanes that solo drivers can access for a variable toll during the parts of the day when freeways aren’t congested. (The worse the traffic is, the more solo drivers have to pay to get around it—and if traffic gets too bad, they aren’t allowed at all.) Opponents call these “Lexus lanes,” reasoning that after all, we’ve already paid for all those roads with our gas taxes and it isn’t fair to pay twice. And just think about all those poor, poor solo commuters stuck in traffic who just can’t afford the buck or two it will cost to jump on the HOV lane with all the (rich) carpoolers and folks on buses (and who, presumably, also can’t afford the bus)!

According to Eyman’s email:

I-985 opens carpool lanes to everyone during non-peak hours — it’s what other states do and provides immediate, cost-effective congestion relief. Opponents are squawking about this, whining that it’s just not right for solo drivers to be able to drive in those lanes. But I-985’s opponents support solo drivers using carpool lanes … as long as they’re rich. Lexus lanes are the future, say opponents, forcing solo drivers to pay twice for the ‘privilege’ of using carpool lanes.

There are a few glaring problems with that argument. First, “congestion relief” is a myth. The second you open up a new lane to solo traffic, that lane inevitably fills up, as people change their travel patterns, making trips they wouldn’t have taken or would have taken at different times—a very old, very basic concept known as latent or induced demand.

Second, the idea that “only rich people” can afford the tolls is ludicrous. According to the state Department of Transportation, the variable tolls on SR 167, the first HOT lane in the state, will range, on average, from $2 to $5. (If you’re riding in a carpool or on a bus, of course, the lanes are completely free). In comparison, Sound Transit Express bus fares range from $1.50 to $3; Sound Transit’s Sounder train fares range from $2.55 to $4.75; Pierce Transit bus fares range from $1.50 to $3; and King County Metro bus fares range from $1.50 to $2.25—and that’s about to go up. So the cost for “rich” people to drive alone in the 167 HOT lane is comparable to the price of commuting by bus—and that’s without all the stops, inevitable delays, and the hassle of sharing a small space with lots and lots of random strangers.

Finally, there’s the question of the gas tax. Is it true, as Eyman claims, that by paying a few bucks to hop in the HOV lane, solo drivers are “paying twice”? Of course not. Only about $12 million of the funding for the 167 project, for example, came from the five-cent gas tax approved by the legislature in 2005; the rest, around $5 million, came from a federal grant. The tolls themselves will pay to maintain HOT lanes, not build them—so no one will be paying twice for anything, and drivers won’t even pay the full cost of building the system in the first place. Meanwhile, the overall state transportation budget is facing an ongoing deficit—a deficit serious enough that, over the last four years, the state legislature has chipped in an extra $3.8 billion to pay for state transportation projects. That money didn’t come from state gas taxes, either—which, incidentally, only cost a typical driver (one whose car gets between 20 and 30 mpg) between $150 and $225 a year.

So, to summarize: Thanks to latent demand, opening HOV lanes up to everyone doesn’t provide “congestion relief.” HOT lanes are free if you carpool, and only a little more expensive than transit if you choose to drive alone. And drivers aren’t being forced to “pay twice” for roads they’ve already paid for with gas taxes; in fact, they’re getting subsidies from the state and federal government that protect them from the true cost of paying for those very lanes.

And speaking of rich people… Voters Want More Choices, Tim Eyman’s latest PAC, already has nearly $170,000 in the bank in advance of this November’s election.