New I-405 toll lanes require gridlock to justify $10 rates

Taken from Monday’s edition of KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show.

In The Seattle Times story about the I-405 tolling, they said that of the money the state raises, about $10 million a year, that estimates are that three fourths of the tolling revenue is going to go to operating costs at least for the first five years.

KIRO Radio Traffic Reporter Chris Sullivan confirmed the stat with the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Related: $10 toll may be possible on Interstate 405 express lane

“A lot of the money is going to go to the overhead of running this system because it’s unlike any other system in the country. The overhead costs are ridiculous,” Sullivan explained.

If they get $10 million in tolls, $7.5 million of our dollars here in the Puget Sound area is going to be sent to this Texas company that is going to be operating the system?

“It’s going to be for the system, yes,” Sullivan said. “I know that doesn’t sit well with people, but you have to understand where this is coming from. The tolls here are being used as a traffic control device, not as a revenue generator for a project.”

Chris explained that yes, the tolls could be as high as $10 if you’re driving the full span on I-405, $12 if you don’t have a Good to Go Pass. That $2 extra is a surcharge for billing through the mail. The state Transportation Commission is also considering changing the definition of carpool from two passengers to three.

“They believe that, in terms of the tolling and management, during peak hours, three plus makes the most amount of sense,” Sullivan said. “The finally ruling is expected Wednesday night. ”

This proves that the state of Washington, the Department of Transportation, as well as the private company that’s going to be operating this system – they have a financial incentive to create as much gridlock as possible in the three general purpose lanes because that’s the only way anybody’s going to be willing to pay these outlandish tolls.

“That’s originally what I thought, but allow me to be devil’s advocate,” Sullivan said. “It took me about eight months of talking to people before I understood how these lanes work. It’s not for you to buy in. The price goes up to try to price people out of the express toll lane and put them into the general purpose lane. It actually works opposite of what you’d think. The idea is to keep those express toll lanes running at 45 mph or better.”

If the general purpose lanes are going 35 mph and it’s going to cost me $10 to use the toll lane to full length at 45 mph, nobody’s going to do that.

They must have gridlock in order to financially justify whatever rates they set for these tolls lanes. It’s all about a private company extracting as much money as possible.

Taken from Monday’s edition of KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show.

SK