The state has found a new way to use high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes to ease congestion: sell passes so single drivers can use them.

The Utah Transportation Commission approved plans to sell permits for $50 a month that will allow drivers to use the lanes without having passengers in the car. The stickers will go on sale in July, when the HOV lane is repainted from Salt Lake City to Orem.

It's a great idea that needs a little fine-tuning. The program is expected to generated $360,000 to cover operating costs, including two Utah Highway Patrol troopers to enforce it.

Utah Department of Transportation officials say the program will relieve congestion on the freeway by allowing more cars to use the HOV lanes. Currently, only drivers who have at least one other passenger can use the lane. To a driver sitting in a traffic jam, it is frustrating to see the open HOV lane lightly used while drivers are crowded into the remaining lanes because they do not have passengers in the car. Some drivers are even willing to risk the fine to get out of the traffic jam.

A $50 monthly fee may be worth it to people who routinely drive on I-15 and do not have traveling companions. In theory, the program will pay for itself through the sticker fees. It may take pressure off other lanes and ease congestion.

With Utah County's stretch of freeway already descending into gridlock, anything that can ease the strain, even a little, will buy us more time until the road can be rebuilt.

But the plan can backfire and contribute to gridlock and defeat the original intent of the HOV lanes.

Virginia, in an effort to promote gas conservation, opened up its HOV lanes to hybrid or alternative-fuel cars with single occupants. The number of hybrids in the lanes created such congestion that the Virginia Legislature is now requiring hybrid drivers to have at least two passengers with them before they can use the lanes during rush hours.

California also opened its HOV lanes to lone hybrid drivers, who now are clogging the lanes and sparking outrage from car-poolers that has been dubbed "Prius backlash."

A $50-a-month fee works out to $1.64 a day, cheap enough to encourage many people to take advantage of the program. There's a danger that the lane could wind up becoming as clogged as the rest of the freeway at rush hour if people can drive in it without extra passengers.

The idea of the HOV lane was to reduce the overall number of cars on the road by creating an incentive for people to commute. As the population along the Wasatch Front grows, so will the number of cars on the road, unless people can start carpooling or using mass transit. An HOV lane is a carrot to encourage people to ride together.

The toll may breed its own bloated bureaucracy. Someone will have to oversee the program, and as the bureaucracy grows, so will the need for more money and the price to ride in the lane will increase. Many states in the east have seen toll roads that were supposed to eventually become free turn into feeding tubes for bureaucrats.

There is a way to encourage rush-hour carpooling while using the lanes to ease congestion. Make the HOV restrictions part time. During morning and evening rush hours, the lanes should be restricted to carpools; but at off-peak hours the lanes should be open to all. There is no need to encourage carpools at midnight, when traffic is sparse anyway.

This is not an alien concept. In Seattle, the HOV lanes are only active during rush hours, and are open to general traffic the rest of the day.

Such a plan would serve Utah by providing an incentive for commuters to carpool at rush hour, but not force people to use the outside lanes when there is no need to do so. The best part is, it won't cost motorists a dime.

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What do you think?

Would you pay $50 a month to drive without passengers in the HOV lanes? Send your comments to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 344-2942. Please leave your name, hometown and phone number with your comments. E-mail comments should not exceed 100 words; voice-mail comments should be no longer than 30 seconds. Anonymous and unverifiable responses will not be published.

The Daily Herald will publish comments on May 14.