The 495 HOT Lanes were built through a public/private partnership. The private consortium, who paid for the expansion, received toll collecting rights from Virginia for the next 80 years. A for-profit has absolute control over this regressive tax...

"The companies, which will finance all but $409 million of the project, have an 80-year agreement that will allow the partners to collect tolls from motorists who use the lanes." [1]

[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12...