HOT lanes may be better than a sales tax

The so-called “Lexus Lanes” may be fit for a Toyota Camry after all. Research in California has concluded that high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, often criticized by opponents who say only the affluent would be able to use them, might actually be more fair to all income levels than paying for road improvements through sales taxes.

The study, released by the University of California-Los Angeles and the University of Southern California, examines the HOT lanes on California 91 in Orange County. Researchers found that the 91 Express Lanes are disproportionately used by middle- and upper-middle-income households. The study then examined how people of different income levels would be affected had the four lanes of the California freeway been funded by a sales tax increase instead of congestion tolls. If that were the case the poorest county residents would have paid more than $3 million more in taxes than they actually did under the current tolling system.

“Using sales taxes to fund roadways creates substantial savings to drivers by shifting some of the costs of driving from drivers to consumers at-large, and in the process disproportionately favors the more affluent at the expense of the impoverished,” the study stated.