Tolls for use of express lanes will know no limit

In 2008, the state opened 7 miles of express lanes on Interstate 95 near Miami, and drivers paid as little as 25 cents and as much as $7 to use them.

But in 2014, the maximum price rose to its current $10.50 because of more traffic on the road.

The same express-lane toll increases could happen in Central Florida, which is slated to get its own 50 miles of such roads on existing highways in the next 10 years.

Toll industry experts say any price cap on express lanes is an illusion, and the Florida Department of Transportation says it does not have a price cap for any of its projects in Central Florida.

“The whole point of these things is the price has to be free to reach the level that achieves the desired amount of congestion control,” said Bob Poole, director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation of Los Angeles. He wrote a research paper in the 1980s that resulted in the world’s first

express lanes pilot project in California.

In Central Florida, construction of 8 miles of express lanes is already under way on State Road 528 between Orlando International Airport and Interstate 4 and will finish in about three years. Another 13 miles will be built on Florida’s Turnpike between the BeachLine Expressway and U.S. Highway 192 in Osceola County. That will be completed in 2023.

Plans for the 21 miles of Interstate 4 express lanes currently under construction are projected to cost up to $14.20 for the whole stretch during peak hours. That’s almost 68 cents a mile. Those lanes are expected to open in 2021.

Express lanes, sometimes criticized as “Lexus Lanes” because of their cost, aren’t just extra roads. Traffic on the additional lanes is controlled through pricing, with high tolls during rush hour to ensure they are free-flowing and lower rates during less-busy times.

For now, the new toll lanes planned for the BeachLine Expressway and Florida’s Turnpike, which don’t have a cap, will be set at 25 cents in opening years. That’s because initial traffic projections are low, said FDOT spokesman Chad Huff.

“There is no maximum,” said Dave Parks, spokesman for I-4. “If people continue to use those express lanes, then yes, the cost to use those lanes would go up.”

Ed Regan, who assisted with I-95 express-lane planning in Miami and is vice president at CDM Smith transportation consulting firm said, “The idea of a cap, while it plays well in terms of the public … that’s ineffective.”

Although the sky’s the limit on tolls, express lanes have improved the commutes of drivers in South Florida. The average speeds of vehicles on that stretch of I-95 have roughly tripled since express lanes were introduced, to about 60 mph from 20 mph, according to a 2016 FDOT traffic report on the lanes.

But some residents would like to see the tolling trend done away with.

“In a perfect world, Orlando would do what Jacksonville did: implement an additional half-cent sales tax and convert the toll roads to free roads,” said Al Varasdi, a Kissimmee resident, in an email.

“I guess I’m old fashioned, but whatever happened to a road system being paid for by all and open to use for all?” said Varasdi, a retiree who said he avoids toll roads as much as he can.

But on a long enough timeline, Poole said, additional non-tolled lanes would just get gridlocked. Express lanes will always be congestion-free by design if they are priced right, he said.

FDOT’s position is that the express lanes are a choice and not a forced tax.

For Poole, they’re the least worst option. “You at least have something, and [having express lanes] seems to most of us to be the valuable thing to do.”