495 Express Lanes

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by Grsz11

As far as I can tell, the Flex would cost the same as any other EZ Pass, because you can use it the same, plus the bonus of using it to claim HOV.

So it won't be like the HOV lanes on 95? For example, right now once in a blue moon, my family heads to Woodbridge in the afternoon. We can jump on the HOV in Springfield off the parkway. Would we not be able to the same on 495 without an EZ pass? You couldn't just say, "Hey. We have 3 people. Let's jump on the HOV lane"?

[Grsz11]

Originally Posted by tgbwc

So it won't be like the HOV lanes on 95? For example, right now once in a blue moon, my family heads to Woodbridge in the afternoon. We can jump on the HOV in Springfield off the parkway. Would we not be able to the same on 495 without an EZ pass? You couldn't just say, "Hey. We have 3 people. Let's jump on the HOV lane"?

That seems to be the case. You'd have to pay 25 for the transponder (refundable), a 35 minimum balance loaded to your account, and a monthly fee if one is added.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by boyd888

My guess is that troopers will look for single drivers as the people to scan to see whether they switched over to the toll, as they will be the easiest to spot coming out of the toll booths. ....,

Tollbooths? I thought it was going to be like on the ICC in MD where there are no toll booths.

[saganista]

Yes, you would of course be correct. From the 495 Express Lanes website...

You will pay your toll on the Express Lanes with an E-ZPass® – there are no toll booths to slow you down. The electronic tolling equipment will charge your E-ZPass® account. The Express Lanes will have all-electronic tolling to keep you moving. There will be no tollbooths or options to pay cash.

And I invite all those who believe it will be easy for them to cheat the toll system to report back concerning their "success" once the Express Lanes are open.

[tgbwc]

Originally Posted by Grsz11

That seems to be the case. You'd have to pay 25 for the transponder (refundable), a 35 minimum balance loaded to your account, and a monthly fee if one is added.

Eh, for the amount of times we use that road it wouldn't be worth it.

[NovaZombieDrivers]

More HOV lanes? what a waste. they could build 5 more lanes with all the space wasted with the express system.

[nevis]

Originally Posted by NovaZombieDrivers

More HOV lanes? what a waste. they could build 5 more lanes with all the space wasted with the express system.

The problem is the state doesn’t have the funding to do that. As this is being funded mainly by the company that will collect the tolls with some going to the state it’s really the only way the work was going to get done. As part of building the lanes they have rebuilt many of the bridges across 495 that the state was going to have to do anyway and also sorted some of the interchanges. And if I am not mistaken they did add lanes in addition to building the HOT lanes themselves.

The EZPass flex hasn’t come out yet and will most likely come out after VA switches to a monthly charge ($1) for having an EZPass. At present you pay $25 to purchase one and then just add value as you use it ( or have it set up to automatically renew when the balance gets low). VA wants to start charging a monthly fee but you won't pay the $25 deposit.

It will be interesting to see how they do catch the violators. I can see someone trying to switch to the HOV-3 mode when they enter and exit but switching it to normal mode while driving the rest. I can see police monitoring the entrances but they won't be at every entrance and if someone has it normal mode for the rest of the trip how can they tell if they cheated to get on/off.

[snowdenscold]

Originally Posted by nevis

It will be interesting to see how they do catch the violators. I can see someone trying to switch to the HOV-3 mode when they enter and exit but switching it to normal mode while driving the rest. I can see police monitoring the entrances but they won't be at every entrance and if someone has it normal mode for the rest of the trip how can they tell if they cheated to get on/off.

I wonder what the fines will be. How do you differentiate between people who accidentally have it left on the wrong setting vs. those who are trying to cheat and if caught, pass it off as an accident.

Unlike normal HOV fines, it's much easier to make a mistake here - the false positives of true cheaters will be much higher than previously. Which is really too bad, because I would like to see the cheaters severely punished, but it's hard to justify a $300 fine to all those people who forgot a setting switch. Although I guess after a $300 fine, they wouldn't forget again!

[z28lt1]

Originally Posted by snowdenscold

I wonder what the fines will be. How do you differentiate between people who accidentally have it left on the wrong setting vs. those who are trying to cheat and if caught, pass it off as an accident.

Unlike normal HOV fines, it's much easier to make a mistake here - the false positives of true cheaters will be much higher than previously. Which is really too bad, because I would like to see the cheaters severely punished, but it's hard to justify a $300 fine to all those people who forgot a setting switch. Although I guess after a $300 fine, they wouldn't forget again!

I suspect the amount of people who carpool one day, and don't the next, and then forget to flip the switch despite going through toll lanes with multiple big digital signs will be miniscule compared to those who will claim they forgot.

The good news is, there might be a little less of a reason to cheat on the HOT lanes than the current HOV lanes. The current HOV cheaters do it primarily for time, as except for the Dulles Toll Road, there isn't a monetary savings to it. The new HOT lanes will be available to everyone, and someone who cheats is cheating to save money and not time. In this area for rush our commuters, time is usually more valuable than money, and as you said, getting caught once will hopefully be enough.