Hot Lane Development on Highways - a PDH Online Course for Engineers, Surveyors and Architects

Hot Lane Development on Highways

Course Outline

HOT Lanes can play and important part in reducing congestion on highways. This course will provide information regarding the design and implementation of HOT lanes. The course materials are based solely on the report “A Guide for HOT Lane Development” as found on the website of the US DOT Intelligent Transportation Systems.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student would have learned the following:

When HOT lanes are useful;
The difference between HOT lanes and HOV lanes;
The role played by the FTA in HOT lane projects;
Issues that can arise during the public outreach process;
How HOT lanes can help lower greenhouse gases;
The desired typical section of HOT lanes;
Penalties and cost associated with HOT lanes;
The use of benefit-cost-ratio in determining the feasibility in implementing HOT lanes;
Different slip ramp configurations for HOT lanes;
When to use permanent structures to separate HOT lanes from general purpose lanes;
Determining operation costs for HOT lanes;
How noise levels are affected by HOT lanes;
Right-of-way costs associated with HOT lanes;
Marketing tools that may find applications in HOT lanes;
Standard shoulder widths for HOT lanes; and
Meaning of Title 23 of the U.S. Federal Code.

Intended Audience and Benefit

This course is intended for anyone with an interest in HOT lane development, traffic engineering, roadway design, environmental engineering or anyone wanting to know more information regarding HOT lanes.

Course Introduction

High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes are useful in controlling traffic flow during peak hour flow. During peak hours HOV lane use can be low with available capacity that could be used to reduce congestion on the general purpose lanes. Several issues related to implementing HOT lanes will be discussed including technical and operational issues.

After reading this course the student will know the basic information regarding HOT lanes and how they can help reduce traffic congestion.

Course Content

This course will provide information regarding the design and implementation of High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes. The course materials are based solely on the report “A Guide for HOT Lane Development” as found on the website of the US DOT Intelligent Transportation Systems. This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

A Guide for HOT Lane Development

(http://www.its.dot.gov/JPODOCS/REPTS_TE/13668.html )

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.

Course Summary

The information presented in this course could be used to enhance the student’s knowledge of High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes. Using the knowledge on HOT lanes could enable to reader to implement more efficient roadways in urban areas.

As always good judgment and good engineering judgment is always paramount in any situation. Utilizing good judgment and the knowledge gained in this course can provide a more efficient implementation of HOT lanes.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites:

http://www.trb.com/
http://www.its.dot.gov/index.htm
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.