While you might think of express lanes and other managed lanes as just another toll road and a highway solution only for drivers, there are many more benefits that such projects can bring when it comes to faster, more reliable trips. Whether a carpooler or a transit rider, the private sector’s investment in managed lanes can help create travel choices no matter which way you choose to go.

On managed lanes themselves, policies to allow vehicles with three or more occupants to ride for free can significantly improve efficiency. The appeal of a free trip inherently takes cars off the road, reducing congestion and car emissions. In locations like Washington D.C. where the HOV-3+ benefit has been deployed, it has created a community of “sluggers,” a system in which drivers pick up two passengers at a designated park-and-ride lot and the three ride to their destination – like the Pentagon or downtown Washington, D.C. – without paying a toll.

Similar policies can also allow transit providers to use toll roads for free – ensuring transit options can also benefit from a faster, more reliable trip, with buses and vanpools moving more people more quickly. With bus ridership back to pre-pandemic levels in many locations, service operators are seeking ways to provide customers with the same faster, more reliable trip as car travelers.

Additionally, public-private partnership (P3) agreements can also include provisions for the creation and operation of bus lines, or construction of new mixed-use paths that connect major trails in the region. Such investments bring further benefit to the residents near the project footprint.

In Virginia, on the 395 Express Lanes – managed by Transurban – toll revenue has been reinvested into transit projects along the 95/395 Express Lanes corridor via the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission’s (NVTC) Commuter Choice Program. To date since 2019, nearly $100 million in funding has been allocated to park-and-ride lots, bus lines, and commuter rail improvements.

Through 2024, these investments in the Commuter Choice Program have enabled 4.2 million transit trips – taking cars off the road and further reducing congestion. These trips have led to a 71% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions versus single-occupancy vehicle trips and saved travelers over 535,000 hours – extending the value of a faster, more reliable trip beyond the Express Lanes.

P3s create opportunities for investment beyond what governments can do on their own, leveraging private investment to strengthen the community while saving taxpayer dollars for the ever-growing list of other public priorities.

Now, governments have the opportunity to further multimodal transportation funding and implementation by leveraging the private sector via P3s to extend community investment beyond the roadway – because using every tool in the toolbox is imperative in solving our nation’s transportation infrastructure challenges.

Managed lane projects enable travellers the choice of a faster trip by paying a toll, but a good P3 arrangement can also offer so much more than that – providing a range of travel choices enabled by dedicated investments, strengthening communities via better mobility.