Guidebook for HOV to HOT Lane Adaptation: HOT START Software User's Guide

This guidebook describes the High-Occupancy/Toll STrategic Analysis Rating Tool (HOT START) program that was developed for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to provide a tool aid in analyzing key issues related to converting a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane to a high-occupancy/toll (HOT) lane. The tool includes three broad categories of factors to consider, including facility considerations, performance considerations, and institutional considerations. The HOT START program was developed in Visual Basic.NET, and it is designed to be easily tailored to local needs. This guidebook walks the user through an example including key screen shots to guide the user. Three appendices provide additional detail of the analysis tool including factor definitions, scoring the factors, and factor interaction effects.