Cost to drive I-405 toll lanes jumps to nearly $10

Drivers were told they wouldn’t regularly pay much more than $4 to use the I-405 express toll lanes.

But for the past several days, drivers have paid well over that.

KIRO Radio traffic reporter Chris Sullivan says the price to drive in the toll lanes between Bellevue and Lynnwood have reached nearly $10 for the past three days. Wednesday morning the toll was around $9.75, he said. Ditto for Tuesday night.

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“We were told those numbers would be the unusual number we would see,” Sullivan told KIRO Radio’s Tom and Curley. “Recently they have become the norm.”

In order to keep traffic flowing at 45 MPH, tolls increase as more drivers enter the express lanes. That manages traffic volume and, essentially, prices people out of the lanes, Sullivan explained.

The price to drive in the toll lanes have been $8 or more 14 times since WSDOT opened them at the end of September, The Seattle Times reports. The tolling engineer for WSDOT told the Times that they are “surprised” people will pay that much.

Tom Tangney’s question: Does the weather have something to do with the increased tolls?

Sullivan believes it’s possible. The toll prices are based on an algorithm that is automatically adjusted.

Related: Dori predicted $10 in September

“From what I’m gathering [the Washington State Department of Transportation] is still trying to figure out the algorithm,” Sullivan said. “But $9.75 seems like an awful lot to get in those lanes.”

The Times reports that in recent weeks, the tolling system has reacted slowly. Drivers enter the lanes because of the low cost &#8211 under $1 &#8211 causing them to quickly fill. That’s when the price jumps.

It could take up to a year for the I-405 toll lane system to be completely hammered out, according to Sullivan. It took about one year for the 520 bridge toll system to be tweaked.

Meanwhile, a petition has been filed online to stop tolling on I-405 between Bellevue and Lynnwood and to reduce the HOV requirement back down to two people. As of Wednesday morning, 14,203 people have signed.