DOT Gives $110 Million For Atlanta HOT Lanes

The federal government has awarded a $110 million grant toward a plan to turn some of metropolitan Atlanta's HOV lanes into HOT lanes, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters announced Tuesday.

The first phase of the plan will convert high-occupancy vehicle lanes on Interstate 85 northeast of the city into high-occupancy toll lanes by January 2011, the Department of Transportation said. Plans call for 49 miles of HOV to HOT conversions along Interstates 85, 75 and 20.

Travel in high-occupancy toll lanes is free for high-occupancy vehicles, while the toll for single-occupancy vehicles is determined by traffic conditions on the roadway, with the highest prices during peak travel times.

HOT to HOV projects implemented in Minneapolis and southern California have reduced conjestion in those areas, DOT said.