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Dear XXXXXX, I read your letter to the Washington Post in which you advocate the adoption of HOT lanes for the Washington DC area. I strongly disagree with your position that HOT lanes will be beneficial to congestion in this area. Implementation of HOT lanes will have the immediate effect of drastically reducing the incentive to carpool, vanpool, or take mass transit. This will put more cars on the road, making traffic far worse. Air pollution, which is a major problem, would also be worse. All of these single driver vehicles would descend on downtown areas, creating additional problems. In addition, implementation of enforcement for HOT lanes would greatly slow down access to the HOV lanes. No one talks about this, but in a regular toll lane such as the Dulles Toll Road, all vehicles have to pay, while in a HOT lane, only the non-HOV will have to pay. But all vehicles would have to be checked or scanned at the entry points, greatly slowing traffic as it enters the HOV. Your argument also presumes that there will be a large amount of unused capacity on the HOV lanes. This is not the case on I-95, on which I commute. In reality, no amount of excess capacity would be sufficient to prevent gridlock under HOT lanes. One cannot directly compare us to the situation in California or in other places where HOV has not been successful. One is not “losing” anything in an area that has miniscule HOV participation. High quality HOV lanes and the excellent commutes they provide are a very major part of the quality of life in the DC area. We have the highest participation in HOV commuting anywhere in the country. Let’s ensure that HOV will always provide a fast and environmentally friendly mode of transportation in the DC area. Sincerely, John and Jane Doe