High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes will coming to a provincial highway near you, starting in 2016.

Today, the province of Ontario announced its HOT lane rollout plan. In summer 2016, it'll initiate a pilot project on a 16.5 kilometre stretch of the QEW between Trafalgar Road in Oakville to Guelph Line in Burlington. This pilot could last up to four years.

For this, the QEW's existing HOV lanes will become HOT lanes. Vehicles with two or more occupants (and with green license plates) will be free to use the HOT lanes. Single drivers will have to buy a permit if they want to use them and a limited number will be made available at the start of the pilot.

As the Toronto Star reports, Minister of Transportation Steven Del Luca estimates there will be 1,000 permits up for grabs.

By 2021, 15.5 kilometres of the 427, from south of Highway 409 to north of Rutherford Road, will have HOT lanes. The province will also be implementing an electronic tolling system (think of the 407) for these.

The provincial government won't be converting any regular lanes into HOT lanes. Rather, some existing HOV lanes will become toll lanes.

What do you think of this plan? Let us know in the comments.

Photo by George Socka in the theGentries Flickr pool.