The Metropolitan Transportation Commission has announced that an express lane along an 11-mile stretch of southbound Interstate 680 from Martinez through Walnut Creek will begin charging tolls next month.
Tolling operations will begin at 5 a.m. on Aug. 20 and will connect with the existing 11-mile express lane from Rudgear Road in Walnut Creek to Alcosta Boulevard in San Ramon, according to the MTC.
To use the express lane, drivers must have a FasTrak toll tag, with carpoolers needing a FasTrak Flex toll tag set to the 2 or 3+ position. People driving solo can pay half-price toll if they have eligible clean-air vehicles and have a FasTrak CAV toll tag.
The express lane operates from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. and tolls fluctuate depending on the level of traffic on the highway.
Motorists can visit 511.org to learn more about the express lanes or to sign up for FasTrak.
California has some of the poorest public services and highest taxes and fees in the country. So the solution to poor roads is to raise tolls and then what? Fix the roads or perpetuate the bloat of of our bureaucracy?
Much like bike lanes, only a fraction of drivers uses the toll lanes while the majority of drivers suffer the increased congestion of a lost lane.
Much like bike lanes, toll lanes are for the few while the majority pay the bill.
What the people want is generally ignored by elected representatives while big money gets what it wants at the people’s expense.
I keep wondering when the people who pay will become weary of paying for everything and getting little, if anything, in return?
I think toll roads are actually elitist. The people that can forward an extra $8 a day in their commute costs are allowed to escape traffic, while everyone else ends up stuck in even more congested lanes.
I can see it for an incentive to have an electric car or super economical car… But still what about the poorer worker who is stuck in traffic because they can’t afford the extra fees?
And where, California, may I ask is all the gas tax that was collected to fix roads? I hear that it’s been diverted to other purposes. Not nice!
It sounds elitist, but it isn’t. There are way too many rich, cheap people that won’t spend a nickel to see the second coming of Christ, and then there’s the guy making next to nothing who easily parts with $8 a day just to get the hell out of traffic. Just because you can afford it doesn’t mean you’ll part with it.
They won’t get a cent out of me. I’ve already paid to use the roads.
I wont even feed a parking meter. Way too cheap.
I have to get to work. I’ll pay to avoid traffic.