The Georgia Senate gave final approval to a bill that would allow state transportation officials to create high-occupancy toll lanes.

Senators passed the proposal by a 38-0 vote April 7. The House previously passed the bill that would permit drivers who drive solo to pay a fee to use high-occupancy vehicle lanes. The bill, SB489, now heads to Gov. Sonny Perdue for final approval.

The state plans to spend as much as $400,000 this year to determine whether the lanes can accommodate paid traffic. It also would evaluate ways to separate and monitor the lanes, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Bill supporters say HOT lanes are far from reality in Georgia but should be seriously considered.

The lanes are thought to smooth traffic by charging fluctuating rates depending on congestion levels.

Bert Brantley, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Transportation, told the newspaper the bill’s passage doesn’t mean HOT lanes are imminent for the state’s largest metropolitan areas. But the Atlanta region is getting 265 more miles of HOV lanes over the next 25 years, he said, and traffic planners would like to consider HOT lanes.

“We’re trying to have all the tools that are out there at our disposal,” Brantley said. “That’s the point, to make it so that if it is a thing we want to do down the road, we can.”