$25 or more to drive the special HOT lanes of the beltway- will you pay? (Arlington: mortgage, how much)

[always talking]

I have moved from the DC rat race but was back to visit. I was driving from Maryland to Stafford VA during rush hour a few days ago and saw the HOT of the Beltway were charging $22.00 to drive from north of Tysons to the 95/395 Intersection. I decided to pay it because the main beltway was at a complete stop. Then going on the special lanes of 95 south it was another $22 to drive to Stafford. I paid it to get out of town.

I suspect there are many people who pay that every day. It sure is getting expensive.

How much would you pay every day if the traffic on the beltway is at gridlock?

[boyd888]

The price is supposed to be based on what it takes to keep the HOT lanes moving at highway speeds. The thing is there is so much traffic sometimes (shocker) that the formula breaks down, keeps raising the price, and you can end up paying $20 to sit in the HOT lanes too. The price can be whatever and EZ pass flex people will still enter as they ride for free.

The sweet spot is a couple bucks, maybe $5 for the route you are describing. Yesterday 66 to 395/95 was like $16, but even the HOT lanes were only moving 30 mph until after the congestion around Rt 50. Not worth $16 to save ten minutes.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by always talking

I suspect there are many people who pay that every day.

I doubt there are MANY people who do that every day. Some.

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by boyd888

The price is supposed to be based on what it takes to keep the HOT lanes moving at highway speeds. The thing is there is so much traffic sometimes (shocker) that the formula breaks down, keeps raising the price, and you can end up paying $20 to sit in the HOT lanes too. The price can be whatever and EZ pass flex people will still enter as they ride for free.

The sweet spot is a couple bucks, maybe $5 for the route you are describing. Yesterday 66 to 395/95 was like $16, but even the HOT lanes were only moving 30 mph until after the congestion around Rt 50. Not worth $16 to save ten minutes.

I've seen as high as $30 to go from where the Beltway and 66 meets to 395.

I used to pay when it was less than $4 to go from that point to Gallows Rd in order to get to South Arlington via Columbia Pike. Paying over $5 For one exit is nonsense IMO.

[gomason]

Most people dont commute that far to begin with but this is typical surbanite thinking. I save $100 a month on housing but I pay $500 more a month for a car so its worth it! Makes total sense.

Forget about the mental health of these lunatics that will kill 10 pedestrians to get to work.

[WittyUserName]

This is what spineless politicians call a "transportation solution". Stay tuned for I-66. Moving out of this area is a smart idea.

But hey, the issue of suburban commuters killing pedestrians in a rampage is probably a bigger issue. Amazing that the media wouldn't pick that one up.

[Zack]

The challenge with the 495 HOT lanes is they aren't segmented the way the I-95 ones are. This means that the pricing formulas have to be very conservative as to what percentage of cars will go the whole way, since they have no way of forcing traffic back to the main lines. On I-95 they can just jack up the toll for a short area if it's getting congested and keep the rest of the prices normal. I've seen that going south where they greatly increase the toll to go to the end of the line versus getting off near Quantico.

[tgbwc]

I don't think I would pay that high of an amount to go that distance. We seldom drive the Beltway and 95, so perhaps I might if the traffic was bad enough since it might only be a few times a year. We typically have 3 in the car anyhow when we are on those roads.

You lost me on the suburban commuters killing pedestrians comment.

[Fallout Zone]

Originally Posted by The Dissenter

I've seen as high as $30 to go from where the Beltway and 66 meets to 395.

I used to pay when it was less than $4 to go from that point to Gallows Rd in order to get to South Arlington via Columbia Pike. Paying over $5 For one exit is nonsense IMO.

I've seen the 66 to 395 toll in the $20s a number of times, but it seems pretty regular now that to Gallows is about $10 and to 395 is $18 or so.

It would be hard to stomach paying those tolls daily, but for part time telecommuters or for special occasions, yeah, I get it.

Somebody made the point above that the mortgage difference doesn't pay. I'm not entirely sure about that. You stick my house in Fredericksburg and I think I'm paying at least $800 less a month. Maybe not enough to pay those tolls each way, but again if you didn't have to go to the office everyday...

[Fallout Zone]

Originally Posted by WittyUserName

This is what spineless politicians call a "transportation solution". Stay tuned for I-66. Moving out of this area is a smart idea.

But hey, the issue of suburban commuters killing pedestrians in a rampage is probably a bigger issue. Amazing that the media wouldn't pick that one up.

I'm not quite sure what you want the politicians to do. It would have been best to raise taxes to pay for the new lanes and transit, but a majority of people are allergic to tax increases.