HOT lanes on Interstate 25 are seeing far more toll-paying motorists than originally forecast, state officials said Monday.
“We’re reaching the 12th-month revenue projection in the third month,” said Peggy Catlin, acting director of the Colorado Tolling Enterprise.
The CTE opened about 7 miles of HOT lanes on I-25 and the Boulder Turnpike in early June.
HOT lanes allow solo drivers to buy their way into high-occupancy vehicle express lanes by paying a toll while preserving free access for buses and carpoolers.
In June, the toll authority got about $42,000 from motorists paying to use the HOT lanes. Last month, the state got about $63,000 in toll revenue, and in the first two weeks of this month, toll revenues reached about $40,000, Catlin said.
In July, about 31,500 vehicles paid tolls to use the HOT lanes, which run on I-25 north of Coors Field to a location near 80th Avenue, with a short additional stretch up the Boulder Turnpike to Pecos Street.
Another 9,200 vehicles passed through the toll-collection zone in the HOT lanes in July and did not register a valid toll transaction, the toll authority said.
Two-thirds of those are expected to be “reconciled” as valid, while the remaining “would be considered a violator and issued a citation.”
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-820-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
