WSDOT caught off guard by I-405 toll lane drivers
Dec 15, 2015, 11:56 PM | Updated: May 7, 2016, 11:58 pm
Drivers have been up in arms since the I-405 express toll lane began hitting peak prices. It turns out those drivers aren’t the only one’s surprised.
The Washington State Department of Transportation’s tolling division appears to have been caught a little off guard by the popularity of the express toll lanes.
The number of people willing to pay to use them is higher than anticipated. And that is one of the reasons why the toll prices have jumped.
That means the promised average of 75 cents to $4 for a trip might have been a little low.
“More people are using the express tolling sooner than we had anticipated,” Assistant Secretary of the tolling division Patty Rubstello said. “So that average may be going up, because we are seeing more use. More people actually do have Good To Go passes than we had thought as well.”
The 160,000 Flex Passes issued is more than the state expected, Rubstello explained.
Though state officials expected the tolls to reach the max of $10, they didn’t think it would be happening so often, so soon.
“We did expect that there would be higher toll-rate days,” Rubstello said. “I think what’s been interesting is we’ve had them frequently back to back.”
There are also concerns from drivers that the state is manipulating the computer algorithm that controls the toll rates to ensure the public is paying the maximum.
Related: Did WSDOT take away a lane on I-405 for the express toll lanes?
Rubstello says they have people dedicated to that computer program, and they check it daily. They did tweak the algorithm a few weeks ago. It now includes data from the general purposes lanes, not just the toll lanes. Rubstello says it tries to anticipate when the toll lanes will start slowing down and adjust the prices before they do.
All this means $7 to $10 might be the new reality to drive in the lanes.
“I think with the demand that we’re seeing, I think we’re going to [be] in that upper range more frequently, for sure,” Rubstello said.
The state might seek permission from the Transportation Commission to raise the maximum toll. As Rubstello says, if the lanes are still slowing down at $10, they are going to have to raise that price.
But Reema Griffith with the Transportation Commission told KIRO’s Dori Monson a change won’t come easy.
“It is set and will be left that way for a while,” Griffith said. “We have told [WSDOT] that in order for any consideration to be given to raise tolls above $10 to a higher number, there will have to be pretty conclusive evidence presented that shows that there is absolutely no operational issues contributing to this.”
Regardless, $7 to $10 tolls are now likely the reality during rush hour.
