HOV Lane Bill Advances
Tiger Chandler speaks to the Senate Transportation Committee.
A 4-1 favorable vote bodes well for an effort to resolve the issue of motorcyclists being assessed fees and fines for using high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes in Colorado. Federal law mandates that motorcycles are always considered HOV but current practice here requires that you have a transponder on your bike or else you will receive a bill in the mail.
Senate Bill 16-123 was passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee Thursday and will move to the Senate Committee of the Whole. The only no vote, from Sen. Nancy Todd, was cast with the statement that if the bill had only addressed the motorcycle issue it would also have been a yes. As it is, the bill, introduced by Sen. Kevin Lundberg, calls for any vehicle that is permitted in an HOV lane be permitted without being required to have a transponder.
Testimony opposing this bill was based primarily on the practical challenges of using a single lane for HOV, rapid transit (buses), and tolled traffic (HOT). Representatives from the Denver Regional Council of Governments, Boulder/Boulder County, and the High-Performance Transportation Enterprise, which operates the tolling system, expressed concern about loss of revenues to pay for the new lanes on US 36 and suggested if the bill passes the ultimate result will be the elimination of HOV lanes entirely.
Alone among them, Matthew Applebaum, representing the interests of Boulder, suggested that the issue might be resolved by not requiring people signing up for transponders who express no intention of using the toll lanes to make the current $35 deposit to cover any fees incurred. He said the $15 for the transponder would be saved in one trip on the Boulder Turnpike and so did not suggest offering the transponders for free.
Motorcycles already can get transponders for free but they still have to give a credit card or bank account and have the $35 deposit drawn.
Bruce Downs, state coordinator for ABATE of Colorado, argued that even free transponders for motorcycles is not sufficient because it does not eliminate the situation where, for instance, an out-of-state rider might use the HOV lane and find an unpleasant surprise in their mailbox afterward. He said Virginia has addressed this issue by installing cameras that are capable of distinguishing motorcycles and ignoring them.
Deb “Tiger” Chandler, who represents the US Defenders and the Coalition of Independent Riders, asked why the motorcycling community had not been included in discussions leading up to this new system long before it was put into place.
Sen. Lundberg acknowledged that as the bill continues its path through the legislature it is likely that amendments will be made and those amendments could resolve some of the valid concerns of those currently opposing the bill.
This bill is still a long way from becoming a law but the response in the Senate Transportation Committee suggests that motorcyclists can reasonably hope for resolution of the issue that concerns them, even if that resolution is not found in this particular bill.
Biker Quote for Today
Ride as though you are invisible, not invincible.
Tags: HOV lanes
February 29th, 2016 at 10:28 am
[…] and he has been busy. It looks as though this whole issue with motorcycles being required to have transponders to use HOV lanes will be resolved soon. I’m just going to paste in Stump’s latest email on the topic. […]