I66 tolls now in effect - at times over $30 one way (Virginia Beach: apartments, condos)

[finalmove]

Originally Posted by Zack

My take is that they are feeling out how much traffic will come in at different prices. With no data to work from, they are being conservative in pricing to avoid too many cars coming in and causing a jam.

Even once the prices settle, I'm sure $15-20 will be pretty common just based on what you see on I-495. I-66 serves Mclean, Great Falls, Oakton, and Vienna which have plenty of drivers who can afford that level of toll.

This is key. Time is money.

[Fallout Zone]

Originally Posted by FCNova

One big change are the hybrids not being free though. So people who had owned a hybrid and used 66 for years now are seeing their commute get significantly worse or significantly more expensive. I know people who are not happy about this.

That's been a stupid loophole for many years now. And they've known that the change was coming. It just kept on getting delayed and delayed. I don't have any sympathy for them.

I also don't feel bad for all of the cheaters that have been pushed off the road or into having to pay. Sorry, not sorry.

The very early morning commuters I do sympathize with a bit. The toll at 6am was $7 to go from the Beltway to DC. For those who had adjusted their lives to early commutes before the HOV times, this is an added expense.

[NOVAmtneer82]

Originally Posted by finalmove

So.......if you don't want to pay the toll, sit in the "parking lot" that is 66. You do have a choice.

I pay $18 often to blow past miles of backups on the Beltway coming in from Maryland. It knocks 30-minutes of my trip home.

It isn't that simple- The entire 10 mile stretch of 66 inside-the-Beltway is tolled for non HOV-2 drivers inbound from 5:30 AM - 9:30 AM and outbound from 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM. The most common parking lots they will now have to sit in to avoid 66 are Route 50, Lee Highway, the GW Parkway.

I am not necessarily against the tolls, but as an Arlington resident, I do not like that the HOV hours were expanded and yesterday's AM prices were considerably higher than those presented by VDOT.

[NOVAmtneer82]

Did everyone see that the rates hit $40 at around 8 this morning? I am starting to think that VDOT in their infinite wisdom might have put one of the sensors used in the toll rate algorithms near the massive bottleneck at the Roosevelt Bridge. Traffic jams up there daily due to the confluence of 66, Lee Highway and 50 and if a sensor is nearby it could be picking up the really slow speeds at that location. We will have to wait and see what the rates do this evening but I do not think the outbound prices went above $10 or 12 last night- there has to be a reason they skyrocket in the mornings. I will note that Route 50 throughout Arlington was an even bigger parking lot than normal during yesterday's PM commute.

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by NOVAmtneer82

It isn't that simple- The entire 10 mile stretch of 66 inside-the-Beltway is tolled for non HOV-2 drivers inbound from 5:30 AM - 9:30 AM and outbound from 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM. The most common parking lots they will now have to sit in to avoid 66 are Route 50, Lee Highway, the GW Parkway.

I am not necessarily against the tolls, but as an Arlington resident, I do not like that the HOV hours were expanded and yesterday's AM prices were considerably higher than those presented by VDOT.

Don't forget Washington Blvd also. I've definitely noticed more cars heading Eastbound than last week. Yesterday, was really bad because the light at Swanson middle was out so that backed up traffic back to near EFC's metro.

I think the tolls are outrageous and cause more problems than they ultimately solve.

[finalmove]

Originally Posted by NOVAmtneer82

It isn't that simple- The entire 10 mile stretch of 66 inside-the-Beltway is tolled for non HOV-2 drivers inbound from 5:30 AM - 9:30 AM and outbound from 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM. The most common parking lots they will now have to sit in to avoid 66 are Route 50, Lee Highway, the GW Parkway.

I am not necessarily against the tolls, but as an Arlington resident, I do not like that the HOV hours were expanded and yesterday's AM prices were considerably higher than those presented by VDOT.

You'll have to wait until it settles out. All these commuters are scrambling to find what works for them. That takes time.
It's like musical chairs!

[pierretong1991]

Twitter user is tracking the prices on his page with all kinds of cool graphs: https://twitter.com/jamespizzurro

Interestingly in the PM peak yesterday coming westbound, prices didn't top $15 (barely went over $10 for a little bit). I wonder if the bottleneck at the bridge is affecting prices in the eastbound direction.

[sprklcl]

Now on national news media, posted in the last two hours:
DC-area drivers blast I-66 tolling system as fees hit $40 mark | Fox News
Until Fox News moves it, the story with this link is currently is on the site home page.

Not good when the issue makes national news coverage.

[NOVAmtneer82]

Originally Posted by pierretong1991

Twitter user is tracking the prices on his page with all kinds of cool graphs: https://twitter.com/jamespizzurro

Interestingly in the PM peak yesterday coming westbound, prices didn't top $15 (barely went over $10 for a little bit). I wonder if the bottleneck at the bridge is affecting prices in the eastbound direction.

That's what I am thinking too- in fact I commented earlier. There has to be a sensor near the TR Bridge and it must be picking up the usual back-ups from 50, 66 and Lee going into one. The toll algorithms are supposed to ensure that the traffic flow stays above 45 mph and we all know that speeds around the bridge are nowhere close to that. One would assume that VDOT might have looked into it before putting the tolls in place but then again it is VDOT we are talking about! Only a step or two above WMATA in terms of competence.

[boyd888]

I am not necessarily against the tolls, but as an Arlington resident, I do not like that the HOV hours were expanded and yesterday's AM prices were considerably higher than those presented by VDOT.

I will note that Route 50 throughout Arlington was an even bigger parking lot than normal during yesterday's PM commute

The issue is that the calculation on what the tolls should be is done to estimate a min average speed of ~45mph. When you have tons of cars all taking the HOV getting the speed to 40mph is impossible, the formula breaks down, and the toll goes to the stratosphere. It happened a couple of times on 495/95 as well.

50 is going to be a parking lot for a long time because 50% of the traffic on 66 consisted of HOV violators that now either pay or take another route....not to mention the hybrids and the "im on my to dulles i swear" people that also got booted off.

At $40 a trip people are just going to start rolling the dice with flex ezpass.