So one of the first blogs I ever wrote, I pointed out how the new pay lanes of 495 looked like they'd be a fucking disaster.
I suppose technically I was wrong. They didnt make traffic worse, but its only because people were actually smart enough to recognize a scam when they saw one, and no one is using the damn things.
It seems rather than pay an even increasing sum of money for a slightly maybe shorter commute, most people figured "fuck it,I already know how long it takes to get to work, its just not fucking worth it"
In fact according to the end of year reports, the 495 HOV lanes lost 51 MILLION dollars last year.
And that was before the silver line opened, finally allowing metro access to the same area as the express lanes. So I kinda doubt those numbers are going to get any better.
So whats the company going to do?
Well it turns out they had a plan B:
Enter the 95/395 pay express lanes.
This is the second part of the project signed into law by former Virginia Governor Bob McFelon.....sorry McDonnell.
And its the same basic idea as the 495 express lanes but more evil.
See just like the 495 lanes, the new 95 lanes charge you an ever changing rate to use by promising you a allegedly guaranteed travel speed.
Basically the way it works, quoting myself in my older blog.
"So how exactly does the company plan of enforcing its "45+ MPH guarantee"? well thats where the semi random pricing comes in. See the company is going to monitor the traffic flow and make second by second adjustments to the price. High traffic flow on either the HOV or main lanes will lead to prices to get on to the HOV to shoot up, essentially as a disincentive to keep you off of them unless you want to pay consistently inflating prices just for the privilege of driving."
So the more people on the main road, the more people are going to want to use the Express lanes. In order to keep most of those people on the main road, the price goes up, so the people rich enough to afford it can go faster.
But heres where the "more evil" part comes in.
According to the company behind both projects, one of the reasons the 495 lanes are failing is that no one is in the "habit" of driving them, because they were new, and people didnt want to spend the money if they couldnt figure out how the road works.
To that end the company has actually offered free days to try to get people to drive the lanes.
But of course since they want to make money the free days tend to be some of the least traveled days of the year, so the project has met with almost no success.
But thats a problem they wont have with the 95 lanes, because the 95 lanes have existed for years, For decades even. People are totally used to driving them because they drive them all the time.
See the 395 HOV lanes were originally built in the 1970's......at tax payer expense.
And despite the name, they are HOV lanes only 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. The other 18 hours and all of Saturday and Sunday, they are open to anyone. So many, if not all residents of the greater washington metro area are used to driving them.
Because normally 395 is 3 lanes wide on each side, but with the HOV open to all traffic that becomes a 5 lane road. So they actually do reduce traffic very well during the 18 hours a day they are open to all, and severe their stated purpose during the 6 they are restricted.
But after they reopen as toll lanes, you can say good bye to all of that. "normal 5 lane non rush hour traffic" will suddenly become "mild to heavy 3 lane non rush hour traffic"
Unless of course people are willing to suddenly pay cash to do something they have been doing their entire lives for free. Which seems unlikely.
So most likely most of those people are going to wind up very pissed off and very stuck in much heavier than they are used to traffic.
But hey, at least some people will use these new pay lanes, since they are familiar with them right?
Actually again, probably not. Because these new lanes are confusing as fuck.
For starters, like most toll roads on the east coast, you need an EZ pass to enter this one.
Seems easy enough? but what about if you were one of the carpoolers who had previously used the HOV during Rush Hour?
Well YOU need an EZ Pass FLEX, which is a brand new kind of easy pass used no where else in the country.
But what about if your a carpooler who already happens to have the regular EZ Pass? Well you too need the new unique EZ Pass Flex, which you can exchange your EZ pass for.....for a processing fee of course.
Ah but given that its unique maybe we should explain how the EZ Pass Flex works:
Basically it has a little toggle, you toggle it one way it its a regular easy pass, you toggle it the other its a free pass and you dont get charged for the trip because your carpooling.
Well at least on the 95 express lanes. Everywhere else its an easy pass no matter the toggle.
Sounds easy right?
Yea well there's a catch. If you dont use your EZ Pass Flex in "flex mode" (read carpool mode) frequently enough, the toggle self disables, and it reverts to a regular EZ pass.......and if you try to use it, you're gonna pay....literally.
And at least as originally conceived, you were going to have to pay a monthly fee to use your EZ pass flex as a flex. You can thank current VA governor McAuliffe for getting rid of that feature though.
And that just covers getting ready to get on the road. When you actually get on the road, things dont get any simpler.
See your in the HOT (high occupancy toll road) lanes, driving along, by your self, EZ pass on, the road stretching out for miles ahead of you, and suddenly your pulled over by the police and ticketed for violating the occupancy rules. What the fuck? Arnt you paying to use the HOT lanes?
Yes.....but you may have left those behind miles ago. See the preexisting HOV lanes ran from DC itself to Dumfries,VA. The new HOT lanes, extended the Virginia end to route 610 in Stafford County, 9 miles below the current end.
However the HOT lanes only extend north to Edsall road, 2 miles north of the beltway, but 6 miles short of the city line. But the road itself keeps going unabated, it just reverts to its preexisting HOV-3 status.....so you better have 2 extra people in your car, or your'e getting that ticket.
And its not like that exit is any better marked then most of the exits from the HOT, just a single white sign annoucing HOV-3 from that point forward.
Now yes I'm aware I-66 does the same thing, becoming exclusively HOV after 495. But there is still a difference between the interchange with a major highway as 66 has, and a random exit kinda in the middle of nowhere.
Now to be fair, I should point out originally the plan was for the pay lanes to go all the way to DC....the problem was the counties of Arlington and Alexandria refused to turn over their portion of the HOV to a private company, specifically because they didnt think making them pay lanes would actually help anything.
Which is actually kinda amazing if you think about.
The former republican governor of virginia gave away (read stole) roads the tax payers had already paid for, to give to a private company, that it turns out he didnt actually have the right to give away....a fact that he appears he didnt tell the company until later. All to avoid having to raise taxes to allow the state to build the 9 mile extension on the southern end, which to be fair was sorely needed.
Although emphasis on the "was" in that last sentence, because now they probably wont make a damn bit of difference, because the most likely outcome (if the 495 lanes are any indicator) is people wont use them.....and possibly even less people will be in a position to use them then were prior to the "creation" (conversion) of the toll road, since the whole system is designed to dissuade people from using the HOT lanes to keep the traffic flowing.
But, that whole edsall road thing isnt the only really fucking confusing part of traveling the 95 HOT lanes, and this time their isnt an excuse outside of the company trying to gouge people.
Basically, depending on where your trip takes you, you have to pay twice.
Ok so explain this, I again have to explain how things work on the 495 lanes.
Your driving along, you decided to get in the 495 HOT lanes, when you do and your EZ pass is scanned, the prices at that moment are locked in. So say your driving the whole length of the lanes, from the mixing bowl to tysons corner, but after you get in the lanes, the prices go up because traffic gets more congested.
Well lucky you, since your price was locked in when you enter the lanes, you'd still pay that lower price when you exit the HOT lanes.
Not so on the 95 HOT lanes. Instead the price could get locked in twice. Once when you enter the lanes, then once again if you happen to pass a certain point (the fairfax county parkway), so if the price happens to go up when your driving (which is highly likely during rush hour) and you drive past the Parkway.....well hope you enjoy getting charged more than you expect....sucker.
Then again, I suppose you COULD always just get off the road before then, and sit in the congested traffic.......but that kinda defeats the whole point of the express lanes in the first place.
Oh, by the way, probably worth pointing out that if you ask Transurban (the company running this thing) about the second charge, they actually wont tell you the same thing I just told you.
What they would tell you is that the second toll point is Heller Road. Which is cool and all, except their ISNT a Heller Road exit going northbound.
Because Heller Road doesnt actually intersect with 95 at all. It runs parallel to it on the South Bound side briefly, which is why it's name appears on the southbound side at the same exit as the Fairfax County Parkway, But since it never crosses 95, its not reachable from the northbound side without going on the Fairfax County Parkway first.
Which might be a problem if your a northbound driver trying to avoid the second toll and looking for the name "Heller Road"......
And actually come to think of it, they do the same thing with the end of the road at Edsall Road.....or as they call it Turkeycock Road.....or Turkeycock Creek depending on which Transurban resource youre looking at.
Which is odd, since according to google (and my own memory of driving 95 every day) their ISNT a turkeycock anything near 95. They seem to have just made the name up (I couldnt find a single thing on google linking to a turkeycock in the right place that wasnt either put out by or quoting transurban).
So yea, hopefully you know ahead of time when to get off the road, and dont actually go to the company in charge for help.......(and they wonder why no one wants to use their roads)
So yea, seeing as how the HOT lanes are just now opening for regular business, you best brace yourself, your commute is only going to get worse with more traffic on the non HOT lanes and a shit ton of confused drivers in the HOT lanes...but hey, at least rich folks will get to enjoy the road your tax dollars already paid for that you cant afford to use anymore right?
Happy driving......
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