Bay Area motorists are going to see 12 miles of new toll lanes spanning Highway 101 from Mountain View to Redwood City starting Friday. But even the most seasoned commuters are often left scratching their heads as their FasTrak transponder racks up confusing charges each month.
Figuring out how much you will be paying on the latest stretch of toll lanes that join the 118-mile express lane network in the Bay Area is complicated – not even the people who planned the system know the answer just yet. Costs are guided by a dizzying mix of uncapped prices that can change every five minutes, multiple toll zones, and discounts for carpoolers and clean-air vehicles.
Here is a guide to Friday’s opening for the perplexed:
Q: Where are these new express toll lanes?
A: The lanes run north and south between the Highway 101-237 intersection near the border of Mountain View and Sunnyvale to Whipple Avenue in Redwood City.
Q: I commute to work alone. How much should I expect to pay to use the FasTrak lane?
A: There’s no clear answer here but be prepared for high prices at rush hour. For standard single-occupancy vehicles, express lanes have a minimum cost usually of $0.50 just to enter a FasTrak zone. The price then rises and falls with traffic congestion – a cost structure known as “variable pricing” – with no upper limit that updates every five minutes.
Stacey Hendler-Ross, a spokesperson for the Valley Transit Authority, which is managing five miles of the FasTrak lane from Mountain View to Palo Alto said the agency expects prices for solo drivers for the new segment to average out higher than $2 a trip – however, it can be as high as $10 if there is traffic armageddon.
“I’ll be honest we don’t fully know, that’s why we’re excited to open tomorrow,” said Matthew Click, a program and policy manager at SMCEL-JPA, the acronym-laden San Mateo County authority responsible for express lane management. “The truth is we’re really going to know [the cost] in a few weeks.”
For comparison, drivers using the 20-mile express lane on the northbound Interstate 880 paid an average of over $7 during the summer of 2021, according to data provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
Q: Who gets to use the express lane for free?
A: Vehicles with three or more people and motorcyclists can drive for free on the express lanes. Just set your FasTrak transponder to three occupants and get ready to cruise by traffic.
Q: What about clean-air vehicles and two-person carpools?
A: Motorists with any qualifying clean-air vehicle affixed with a yellow, blue, orange, or purple decal will receive a 50% discount. These drivers need to use a FasTrak CAV toll tag transponder, meant specifically for clean-air vehicles. Standard cars with two people are also eligible for half off using a standard FasTrak transponder set to two.
Q: Will the lane save me any time?
Express lanes promise speeds of at least 45-miles an hour, although they don’t always live up to that commitment. Drivers on I-880 express toll lanes saw average speeds of more than 15 miles per hour faster the other lanes of traffic during July through September of last year.
Share your experience about driving on the new Highway 101 toll lanes with us. Email [email protected]
