Express lanes coming to Interstate 880 on Friday.
FasTrak is required for entry, and new rules will be applied
Express lanes will open on Interstate 880 from Oakland to Milpitas in the pre-dawn hours on Friday, but there are some unanswered questions.
How many drivers will be willing to fork over a toll with the COVID-19 pandemic cutting traffic now that more people are working at home? In addition, there are tougher rules for carpoolers, longer express lane hours, and motorists in electric vehicles will be charged.
And there’s one more critical item. All express lane users must have FasTrak.
“It’s important to keep in mind that, eventually, the pandemic will be behind us,” said John Goodwin of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. “One of the wild cards is the debut on 880 and 237 of halfprice tolling for two-person carpools and clean-air vehicles. We certainly will be looking at the tolling data to see what usage patterns emerge.”
Here are the new rules that will likely be in effect on all express lanes:
• Only carpoolers of three on more ride free with a Flex tag set to 3.
• Carpoolers of two and those in electric vehicles get a 50% discount.
• Solo drivers can use these lanes but pay full price.
• Drivers can merge in and out where there are dashed white stripes.
• Double white lines that prohibit changing lanes will be limited to three locations.
• FasTrak hours run from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Tolls vary based on the level of traffic.
On Highway 237, toll lanes generated approximately $3.47 million in the fiscal year 20192020. About half were solo drivers paying a toll, and the other half were toll-free carpoolers, motorcycles or clean-air vehicles.
The data show speed differentials of up to 20 mph between traffic in the express lanes and the general-purpose lanes during the peak commute period.
Not everyone is happy about the conversion to express lanes.
Jane Lu of Newark has looked for a carpool partner with mixed results. “Finding two may be impossible,” she said.
Chuck Martin of South San Francisco questioned the validity of having these lanes at all.
“This is not about congestion, but about extracting money from drivers who have already paid for use of the roads via taxes,” he said. “It’s double- dipping.”
Bob Poole, the director of Transportation Policy for the Reason Foundation, a transportation think tank, says that across the country, lower levels of peakperiod congestion due to the large increase in telecommuting mean that fewer people need to or are willing to pay tolls.
“Generally, when carpool requirements shift from two-plus to three-plus riders, carpooling decreases, since it is generally a lot harder to form and maintain threeperson carpools,” he said. “What often happens is that the two-person carpool members decide to split the toll so they can continue to drive in the restricted lane and benefit from faster and more reliable travel.”
But, Poole said, toll lanes are “more widely accepted when there is a regionwide network of them, serving not only auto commuters, but also regionwide express
bus service.”
And that is where the Bay Area is headed. More than 600 miles of express lanes are planned over the next 15 years. Toll lanes on northbound Interstate 680 through Fremont should open by the end of the year, and construction of express lanes is underway on I- 680 through Contra Costa County and Highway 101 along the Peninsula. Others are planned on 101 and 85 in the South Bay.
Also a possibility are FasTrak lanes on Interstate 80 to Sacramento. While the idea has been discussed, a move like that will take many discussions, agreements from various agencies and a lot of work if it is approved.
“Express lanes already are accepted by the public,” said the MTC’s Goodwin. “Not universally accepted, of course, but here in the Bay Area you can always get a group together to protest motherhood, apple pie and fog-shrouded redwoods.”
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