I-405 toll signs experience Monday morning glitch

Monday morning drivers along I-405 may have noticed something awry with the express lane tolls. The glitch, however, allowed some drivers to get into the fast lanes at quite a deal.

Related: Toll glitch mistakenly charges some I-405 drivers

The toll signs above the express lanes showed one price, yet the price advertised on the website showed another — WSDOT posts the tolls online so drivers can check ahead. And not only were the prices off, the lanes showed tolls ending with a “7.” Tolls generally don’t end with that number. Some stated “$6.07,” and others were even cheaper. Some signs even said “open” indicating the lanes were free to use.

This occurred during the 6 a.m. hour.

“We’re still looking into what happened this morning. What drivers saw was a safeguard built into our tolling system,” said Ethan Bergerson, WSDOT spokesperson.

“When we detect a communication issue or server error, something like that, we have a file of predetermined toll rates based on traffic conditions typical for that time of day,” he said. “They end with ‘7’ and that is to alert engineers that something is up and they need to look at this.”

Bergerson said that drivers can expect to pay what was on the toll sign, not what was on the website.

“In a lot of cases, that’s going to result in less expensive of a trip for them,” he said. “For a little while the website was displaying $10. The website would have shown higher rates.”

“If you’re on the road we don’t expect you to go onto our website. If you see a sign that displays a rate that’s what you will pay,” Bergerson said.

By 7:15 a.m. the signs were fixed and showing the correct toll price, though, that price was $10.

Seeing weird stuff on the #405ETL this morning…rates were at $6.07, now says “open to all”. Maxed out online. pic.twitter.com/LOJPL7Azsc

— Alexis Smith (@AlexisKIRO7) April 18, 2016

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