Why Canadians don’t have to pay for tolls on I-405

Canadians and motorcycles: two nagging issues dogging the new express toll lanes on I-405 between Bellevue and Lynnwood.

For Canadian drivers, Good-to-Go is able to send a bill to any car licensed in any of the 50 states, but it cannot send a bill to our neighbors to the north.

Why?

Tolling director Craig Stone with the Washington State Department of Transportation said Canada has an even tougher version of the U.S. Patriot Act. It will not give up citizens’ information, even for tolling.

What makes this so frustrating is that Washington drivers have to pay the toll on Canada’s Port Mann Bridge. Canada can get our information. Washington cannot do the same for Canadian drivers.

Tell us about what slows you down

“We do not have the ability to actually get a pay-by-mail bill to a Canadian plate up in B.C.,” Stone said.

He said the state is working with Canada on this, but it’s not likely it will give up addresses. WSDOT does have another option, but it is too expensive to be worth it.

“You really have to go down a law enforcement process where you have reciprocity, and to say, ‘For a toll, is it really a criminal-type investigation.’ We’re running a business here and if it’s going to cost us more to pursue a Canadian plate than we would ever get back on a toll &#8212 you have to look at that,” Stone explained.

Two-tenths of one-percent of plates going through the toll system are Canadian. Only 2 to 3 percent of plates are from out-of-state, and only about 7 to 10 percent of drivers are using the pay-by-mail option.

Now, for motorcycles. Many riders continue to ask why they are getting tolled when they have a pass. Stone said there are some issues with certain bikes and pass installation.

“Some people with motorcycles are putting their tags on vertically,” he said. “It doesn’t read when it’s vertical. It has to be horizontal. There are some Honda models that have a kind of crest on their lights, and they’ve broken the transponder in there. There are things of that nature that we are trying to work through.”

Motorcycle riders should check their accounts frequently to make sure they aren’t getting tolled. They can always contact customer service to get those tolls wiped.

I also received a note from Scott Surber on Sunday. He’s a KIRO Radio driver who asked why the HOV requirement was increased to three-plus over the weekend. It turns out there was a glitch, and the DOT has fixed it.

The state has also found that it double-billed 88 drivers during the first two weeks of tolling. Those charges are being removed.