Mar 5, 2009 10:48 pm US/Central
How Easy Is It To Cheat In HOV, MnPASS Lanes?
(WCCO)
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Minnesota State Patrol Captain Tom Fraser helped design the program to stop cheaters in the I-394 carpool lane in 2005. That's when the MnPASS system was put in, which lets solo drivers use the lane if they pay a toll.
CBS
Alone in the car in rush hour, it's appealing. With one lane of cars whizzing by, we all ask ourselves, if I cheated and drove in the carpool lane, would I get caught? If you do, the penalty is a steep $142 ticket.
But when you drive, where you drive and even what kind of car you drive can influence whether or not you'll get nailed.
One woman wants to remain anonymous, but calls herself a shameless cheater.
"I think I'm proud that I get away with it and that I have tricks," she said.
Caught and ticketed twice on Interstate 394 for driving alone in the carpool lane, it wasn't enough to make this anonymous cheater stop.
"Why I started cheating, is because I'm a naturally late person," she said.
WCCO asked Captain Tom Fraser of the Minnesota State Patrol what the most common excuse he here's when he busts people driving illegally in the high occupancy vehicle lane.
"If they're alone in the car there's two. One is they're late ... The other is they didn't know it was an HOV lane," said Fraser.
Fraser helped design the program to stop cheaters in the I-394 carpool lane in 2005. That's when the MnPASS system was put in, which lets solo drivers use the lane if they pay a toll.
The revenue from the system pays for extra patrols.
With more policing, the percentage of cheaters on I-394 has gone down. Before MnPASS, 20 percent of drivers in the carpool lane were cheaters. Since MnPASS, that percentage is down to nine.
"Every day, every single night, there is a trooper or Golden Valley police officer or a Minneapolis police officer working MnPASS, a.m. shift or p.m. shift, on overtime." said Fraser.
However, extra money isn't there to pay for extra officers on Interstate 35W, so enforcement is much spottier.
"About a third of the people driving who are driving in the HOV lane on 35W are cheaters," said Lee Munnich at the Center for Transportation Studies.
Munnich tracks how well HOV lanes work and said that no question, it's easier to cheat on I-35W.
"A lot easier. A lot easier. And I think people know that," he said.
Munnich said that should change this fall. That's when the HOV lane turns into a heavily monitored MnPASS lane where Fraser said "You have a chance of getting through, but there's decent chance that you're getting to get caught."
It turns out your chances of getting ticketed for cheating can depend on a lot of things, like the time of year.
More cheaters are ticketed in September than any other month. The fewest tickets are written in December and March.
More people are ticketed in September, possibly because school starts and vacations end. December makes sense because of the holidays, but March?
"I don't know. I don't have a good answer for that one," said Munnich.
The time of day matters too. On average, 20 percent more people use the HOV lane on I-394 in the morning than in the afternoon. The number of patrol officers is the same, but it's easier to spot cheating in the afternoon because there are fewer cars to check.
"This isn't like going out and looking for speeders. This is hunting, you have to find individual targets," according to Fraser.
The hunt is made easier on I-394 because of the MnPASS technology, which tells Fraser the last time a subscriber paid a toll and how much the toll was. The system is audible, and if a transponder doesn't sound, Fraser has a split second to see if there's more than one person in the car.
However, the system isn't flawless. High-end German cars have more metal which interfere with the system.
"So the chances of it not working in a BMW are greater?" asked WCCO's Frank Vascellaro.
"Yeah," said Fraser.
"Why is that?" said Vascellaro.
"Enough metal and it just makes them hard to read," Fraser said.
People in expensive cars like BMWs and Mercedes could be cheating, but officers might let them go by because it's hard to tell if the transponder is working correctly.
Doesn't that just add to the ire of people who already call this "The Lexus Lane"? Maybe. And, by the way, the MnPASS system technology actually does work on a Lexus.
You also have a better chance of sneaking through if you cheat when the Minneapolis Police are on duty, instead of the Minnesota State Patrol or Golden Valley. Minneapolis police stop and cite fewer people.
But no matter who cites you, the penalties add up and your license can be suspended. Fraser said it's considered a moving violation and "three in a year, you get a suspension."
That did make the hard-core anonymous cheater think twice.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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