One approach that is on the state's radar screen is a new technology that uses infrared scanning. It relies on the blood and water content in the body to count how many living, breathing passengers are in a car.
Deploying this new technology, which would require both state and federal approval, raises privacy concerns. One is over how the pictures taken by this system might be used and who would be allowed to see them. The original version, developed by a British company, puts a green dot over the passengers' faces before anyone--let alone a lawyer's office or insurance company--ever sees the photo. Dot or not, those who support the system argue that drivers are making a choice to have their picture taken by driving in the HOV lane.
The infrared technology, dubbed "dtect," is expensive and not currently in use anywhere in the United States. To deploy it in HOT lanes, Virginia would have to ask riders to install a special transponder--much like EZPass--that they can turn on and off, depending on whether they qualify for a carpooler's toll-free ride.
