The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDoT) is jumping on the EV bandwagon and announced that it is looking to promote the usage of electric vehicles for transportation by creating EV-friendly lanes on the US 75 highway.
According to news publication Allen America, TxDoT's goal by the end of this year is to transform the high-occupancy vehicle lanes — which are currently underused — into "technology lanes" that would be dedicated for low-emission vehicles.
TxDoT says that the planned lanes would be open to low-emission vehicle use for two hours in the morning (7 a.m. to 9 a.m.) and a couple of hours in the early evening (4 p.m. to 6 p.m.), time windows that align with when most residents are going to or leaving work.
“The project for US 75 will allocate two hours where the lanes will be electric vehicle and HOV friendly,” TxDOT Public Information Officer Madison Schein said to Allen America. “Statewide, we have a bigger plan for this several years out creating opportunities for people to use electric vehicles and get to their destinations.”
Outside of the two-hour spans in the morning and evening, the US 75 highway will be operating with five general usage lanes the rest of the time.
The low-emission vehicle lanes are part of an electric vehicle infrastructure plan for the state of Texas that was developed in the spring of 2022 by TxDOT (via Allen America).
The goal of the plan is to provide electric alternative fuel corridors to interstate routes at first, followed by urban areas and routes off of the interstate.
TxDOT says that the project will probably be numerous years in the future to fully complete, but add that it is securing the necessary funds to get the project on the right track (via Allen America).
For more information on the Texas Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan, click here.
