than three occupants can use the HOT lanes by paying a toll. The HOT lanes will use dynamic or congestion pricing to manage the number vehicles, and to keep them free-flowing. On average, vehicles are expected to be traveling 55 miles per hour, even during peak travel times. The first HOT Lanes in the nation to open was the 91 Express Lanes project in Orange County, California, opening in December 1995. A computer adjusts the toll every six minutes, raising it if too many cars are on the highway, lowering it if the highway is underutilized. Even drivers who won't pay the toll appreciate the HOT lanes diverting traffic form the regular highway. But many people are not happy about the proposed HOT lanes in Northern Virginia. In 2001, Maryland governor Parris N. Glendening (D) stopped a state study of similar proposals for the Maryland side of the Capital Beltway. The governor believed it would be unfair to low-income residents to allow affluent drivers to buy their way out of traffic. In 2003, Virginia Department of Transportation Commissioner Philip A. Shucet stated that "[s]ingle drivers could pay $1 to $4 to get off of the congested regular lanes." By 2009, transportation planners in Washington estimated the projected rush-hour toll need to be $1.60 a mile. According to VDOT's web site: There will be no toll cap, as tolls must be able to increase to the level necessary to manage real-time traffic demand and keep the lanes congestion free. Those who own property along the path of the Capital Beltway HOT Lanes are growing increasingly agitated with the project. Supervisor Sharon Bulova (D-Braddock), who represents a number of neighborhoods affected by the construction, said, Once the project is truly underway, eventually pretty much all the trees in the VDOT right of way are going to be cleared ... I know I didn't have an appreciation of the extent of the clearing that was going to be done ... Do they really need to clear every teeny piece of vegetation in their right of way? History The Virginia General Assembly established the first State Highway Commission in 1906. In 1927, the Virginia Department of Highways (VDH) was established as a state agency. VDH became the Virginia Department of Highways and Transportation (VDHT) in 1974, adding railroads and public transportation to its portfolio. In 1986, the General Assembly authorized expanded revenue sources for