FasTrak Transponders, Poker Chips, and Alameda County’s Newest Tax on Residents
The 14-mile southbound I-680 Express Lane is set to open on September 20th at 5AM between Pleasanton and Milpitas. It is currently free to carpoolers, motorcycles, and hybrid vehicles. Alameda County will be using the FasTrak system to collect Express Lane tolls from drivers Monday through Friday during the hours of 5AM-8PM. The California Highway Patrol will enforce the FasTrak requirements at the various entry and exit points. Alameda County will be using a “dynamic pricing” model to increase or decrease tolls depending on the amount of traffic in the Express Lane. Motorists pay $5-$7 to travel in the Express Lane during peak hours. In 2011, a second Express Lane is set to be unveiled on eastbound I-580 along the 11-mile stretch between Hacienda Drive and Greenville Road.
Tolls collected from the Express Lane motorists will primarily be used for providing transit services and adding more Express Lanes along I-680/I-580; however, what portion of the driving tax proceeds will be used for other purposes such as bridging State funding gaps for various County and local agencies remains unclear. The freeways are no longer free.
What Do the New Express Lanes Mean For Your Wallet?
From Alameda County’s perspective, the beauty of FasTrak is that it leverages the casino poker chip effect. Casual gamblers tend to lose track of how much they spend when they are not playing with hard currency. Drivers prepay to load up their FasTrak account and do not have to use cash when they cross a bridge or use an Express Lane. By decoupling the pain of toll payment from cash payment, drivers have become desensitized to more frequent toll increases and new driving taxes like the Express Lane program.
With the FasTrak transponder in place, Alameda County can easily eliminate the “free” weekend period and increase dynamic toll charges at will without having to get public or commission approval. Most motorists will not notice the increases because the toll charges will drift upward gradually.
Drivers can also expect to see more lanes along I-680 and I-580 converted to toll lanes. With the electronic toll collection infrastructure in place, Alameda County may easily extend the “dynamic pricing” model to more highway lanes and charge motorists based on real-time demand for the highway. Further, as with the recent changes by the various Bay Area bridge authorities, carpoolers and drivers of hybrid vehicles may end up having to pay for using the Express Lanes once motorists become accustomed to paying more.
The new FasTrak lanes should help alleviate congestion for a select group of drivers in the short to mid-term, but it will be at the expense of increased congestion for those who cannot afford to pay the toll increase. Additionally, the benefits of the Express Lanes will likely diminish as additional lanes are converted to toll lanes in the long-term.
11:01 AM on July 29th, 2010
This stuff makes me crazy. I still don’t understand why the hours of the carpool lane on 680 between the Tri-Valley and Walnut Creek were extended from 6 to 7 p.m. The carpool lane is nearly empty during that hour while traffic in the remaining lanes is now much worse. It doesn’t make any sense—logistically, environmentally, anything…
2:14 PM on July 29th, 2010
I support toll lanes. As long as it is used to add more toll lanes and funding public transportation (DON’T SPEND IT ON BART).. BART is a money siphoning system with overpaid unionized employees, that just does not work. Cost of maintaining this system is just too much that it is no longer a viable alternative to get cars off the freeway. BART should look at the Japan subway rail systems. Would be better to convert it to an Amtrak or Caltrain rail tracks. Cost less. I prefer express buses to San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco and others. If all bus transit systems will have express buses to San Jose, I680 gridlock will disappear and good for the environment. BART is blocking all this bus express transportation to fund their overpaid operators. Toll roads will alleviate state budget funding of public transportation.
4:56 PM on July 29th, 2010
You refer to using the Express Lanes as a ‘tax’ when it clearly is not. A tax is something you have to pay – no one is going to be forced to use the Express Lane. All that changes is that solo drivers now have the option to pay to use the carpool lane.
And your argument that additional lanes on the freeway are going to be turned into Express Lanes is unfounded. What are you basing this idea on? Have you read anything that says this is in the works? Are there any plans for this? Are there even studies done which look at this? Converting a carpool lane into an express lane is very different than taking away an open lane.
Additionally you have insulted the intelligence of drivers on I-680 by stating, “Most motorists will not notice the increases because the toll charges will drift upward gradually.” In these economic times most everyone I know is watching their spending even closer than before.
A new way for solo drivers to avoid traffic sounds like a good idea to me. If you disagree, then don’t use it. Simple as that.
6:34 PM on July 29th, 2010
“…as with the recent changes by the various Bay Area bridge authorities, carpoolers and drivers of hybrid vehicles may end up having to pay for using the Express Lanes once motorists become accustomed to paying more…”
Doesn’t this example sound like everyone is forced to pay? It could happen to the freeways too if there is a budget crisis down the road in the future.
9:06 AM on July 31st, 2010
What I know and heard is that express/carpool lanes will be built. Existing carpool lanes will be converted to express/carpool lanes for fee for single drivers. My crystal ball tells me that carpoolers 2 or more will eventually pay for use of these lanes at a lesser fee. Just like they did with bridge tolls ( Bay Bridge ). The fees collected will be used to subsidize public transportation. I hate to see these express/carpool lane revenues go to highly paid BART employees, the main reason for the high cost of travel by BART. NY subway train users pay a lot less than BART travelers. No doubt BART is far better than NY subway not with Japan subway system. Japan subway commuters pay a lot less compared to both BART and NY subway. Japan subway is the main lifeline for commuters in Japan and simply they don’t have a choice. Main cities like Tokyo and Osaka does not have the same gridlock problem as we have. I saw and used it through my business travels in Japan. In the US especially here in the Bay Area, you cannot get commuters off their cars if public transportation cost is higher than using their cars and the length of train or bus travel time. Maybe the cost to commute to SFO is cheaper using BART because of parking fees not to other destinations. San Jose commuters don’t have to pay for parking. As most San Jose/Silicon Valley companies have tons of free parking. You can never take San Jose / Silicon Valley commuters off their cars. These pay for use express lanes for fee is a good solution for fiscal sense not environmentally. It is even bad environmentally as it will not reduce cars in our freeways. The mentality behind this is “If you cannot lick them then join them”. I do support publicly owned toll roads here in the Bay Area not privately owned as in So. Cal. Express bus transit to San Jose/Silicon Valley will be a great solution for I 680 gridlock, as these express lanes will make bus travel time a lot lesser and will cost less compared to car fuel and maintenance cost. And they should bring back express buses to SFO and Oakland. It has been proven for almost decades, that BART is not the answer for traffic and environmental cures in the Bay Area. It has a lot of patronage because majority of them don’t own a car or simply don’t want to pay for parking in SFO and Oakland. Other than those 2 metro cities, the best alternative is drive by car. BART needs a major overhaul financially and route. BART union has to have a no-strike clause like the government unions or air traffic controllers. BART employee’s salaries need a major overhaul too. Funding BART using express lane revenues as what state subsidies does now is simply murder and plain stupidity. We will be seeing an increase in our vehicle registration as Alameda County is enacting vehicle tax. That is another dumb idea that simply is not environmentally friendly that won’t take car commuters off their horse saddles. I support vehicle tax for freeway heavy users not the ones who use public transportation and leave their cars at home or parking lots. Hello Tim Sbranti as our representative with LAVTA. Help stop this non sense initiative.
10:27 PM on July 29th, 2010
carpool and this are just simply ploys to get more money – ever have a freeway lane close one simple lane the world almost stops. I remember when the economy was not dead and 680 south from mission had no carpool it ran beautifully all the way to san jose. every since carpool – now the other lanes got filled.
so if you think about it more cars on the road for a longer time worse for the world. now lets just add charge for the traffic we caused.
take german autobahn – if there is crash on one lane they open side lane and it starts moving – how about just open them all up and design it so we don’t cause things like 5 lanes to 3lanes..
ok done
8:52 AM on July 30th, 2010
The Carpool lane idea only works if it forces people (or persuades people) to start carpooling specifically so they can use the lane.. That almost never happens.. Instead, we’ve created a perfectly good lane that we close off to most riders. The ones I see in the carpool lane are typically not carpooling for that reason (3 guys in a landscaping truck, mom and her kid in a car seat, old retired man and his wife, etc…)..