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How tolls, extended hours are impacting I-66 traffic
WTOP ^ | July 12, 2018 | Max Smith

Posted on 09/04/2018 12:18:14 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks

WASHINGTON — Extended Interstate 66 HOV hours and high morning tolls aimed at reducing the number of cars hitting a chokepoint passing the Dulles Connector Road appear to be the biggest drivers of traffic changes since tolls for solo drivers began in December.

A new state review of traffic and tolling data on I-66 and parallel roads over the first six months finds more concentrated and severe eastbound traffic delays through the Rosslyn area now than in the same period last year between 8 a.m. and 9:15 a.m., but significantly reduced traffic jams on I-66 inside the Beltway elsewhere and during other tolling hours.

In the morning, faster speeds in the segment of I-66 past the Dulles Connector account for the most significant portion of the improvements along the entire corridor. Traffic speeds stay steadier there than in the past through about 7:30 a.m., with no more rush to beat the old HOV hours that had slowed traffic from about 5:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. The higher tolls in the morning — the average $8.49 paid compared to $4.60 in the afternoon — also appear to deter enough drivers from using the road to help keep traffic moving.

Virginia is in the process of widening I-66 in that area, with construction expected to be completed in about two years.

Some of the biggest changes overall since December, in the morning as well as the afternoon, are in the periods where commuters used to flood I-66 to get in or out just before or after old HOV restrictions ended. Now, the HOV period has been extended from 2 1/2 hours each way to four hours each way — 5:30-9:30 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. The same types of slowdowns still happen on the fringes of the new HOV hours as the old ones, but not to the same degree.

Still, a significant slowdown begins approaching the Potomac River starting around 7:45 a.m. that bottoms out between 8:30 a.m. and 9:15 a.m.

The highest toll rates continue to be between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., when HOV usage also peaks.

“VDOT is testing modifications to (the) tolling system to evaluate opportunities to move more people,” a review summary said.

In the first six months of tolling, 0.28 percent of toll payers paid more than $40 for a single trip.

A separate new report on May tolling finds 1,786 trips priced at $40 or more that month. The average price paid in May when including trips along only a portion of the corridor was $9.39 in the morning and $5.25 in the afternoon.

In May, traffic on Interstate 66 was slower than the same time a year earlier eastbound from about 7:45 a.m. to 9:15 a.m., but was faster between 5:30 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. — the edges of the old HOV hours.

In the evening, traffic in May was mostly faster than a year earlier, with a slight slowdown from around 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Alternate routes in May were generally slightly faster than the same time a year earlier, except for certain times on the George Washington Parkway.

Over the full December-through-May period, changes for parallel routes in the morning vary based on the exact time of a commute, with periods earlier in the morning when Route 50, Route 29 and the George Washington Parkway are slower than a year earlier, and some periods later where they are faster. While the state says Route 29, Route 50 and Route 7 are faster overall on average in the morning rush, the GW Parkway is slower than the previous year from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

How many ride free?

In May, 12.1 percent of vehicles using I-66 during the HOV or tolling hours rode without an E-ZPass, exposing the drivers to potentially expensive bills in the mail. Meanwhile, 44 percent of vehicles rode free with an E-ZPass Flex switched to HOV mode and at least two people in the car (motorcycles also ride free); 43.9 percent of vehicles had an E-ZPass in toll-paying mode.

Over the first six months, 49 percent of morning trips were taken for free with an E-ZPass Flex and at least two people in the car, while 37.9 percent of evening trips on average met HOV requirements.

Since the tolling and expanded HOV hours began, an average 13,688 daily trips eastbound and 16,496 daily trips westbound have been recorded during the four-hour tolling periods.

The office of Virginia’s secretary of transportation said there have been fewer crashes on I-66 since tolls began than in the same period a year earlier.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: arlington; behavior; expresslanes; hotlanes; hov; i66; infrastructure; tolls; traffic; transportation; virginia

1 posted on 09/04/2018 12:18:14 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

They worked. I sold my house and moved out of Virginia. Idiots.


2 posted on 09/04/2018 12:20:29 AM PDT by Salvavida
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks; Salvavida; All

I have to drive alone from Washington, DC to West Virginia this month. I do not have an easy pass. My hours are flexible. How can I avoid the single driver rate on I-66 or completely avoid I-66 to get from one place to the other? I am 80 years old, is there some special relief for the elderly?


3 posted on 09/04/2018 12:29:29 AM PDT by gleeaikin
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To: All
What effect do tolls have on I-66 after six months? (6/4)
4 posted on 09/04/2018 1:20:28 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks ( The US Constitution ....... Invented by geniuses and God .... Administered by morons ......)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Here in Washington state they widened the freeway by one lane. Then turned two lanes into toll lanes. I used to be able to get off one freeway, onto the one before the extra lane and toll, and get to my exist in about 2 minutes.

Now it takes me 10 to 15 minutes!

On that stretch of highway the accident rate has doubled. Folks changing lanes quickly to get from the where the toll lane ends and over to their exit, and vice-versa. Crazy.


5 posted on 09/04/2018 1:25:33 AM PDT by 21twelve
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To: gleeaikin
I have to drive alone from Washington, DC to West Virginia this month. I do not have an easy pass. My hours are flexible. How can I avoid the single driver rate on I-66 or completely avoid I-66 to get from one place to the other?

Leave at about 10:00 a.m. You won't have to worry about tolls or traffic on 66.

I am 80 years old, is there some special relief for the elderly?

Not that I'm aware of.

6 posted on 09/04/2018 3:17:38 AM PDT by KevinB (I do not care for that Obama fellow.)
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To: All
Interesting how in the auto age, toll roads were an idea that came and went and returned.

ff

7 posted on 09/04/2018 3:33:22 AM PDT by foreverfree
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

DJT could fix this,, by cutting the number of workers commuting..


8 posted on 09/04/2018 4:48:42 AM PDT by Neidermeyer (Show me a peaceful Muslim and I will show you a heretic to the Koran.)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

They didn’t mention that more people are going late to avoid the tolls and there are now jams west of the toll segment much later than usual, as late as 10:00. Those can last to 10:30 in the toll segment. Also the widening for HOT lanes in the rest of 66 has started, slowly. Construction will last for years. Already there are daily backups in the reverse commute for the millenials who live in the city or in Arlington and commute out to jobs in the suburbs.


9 posted on 09/04/2018 4:48:49 AM PDT by palmer (...if we do not have strong families and strong values, then we will be weak and we will not survive)
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To: Neidermeyer

That would be awesome. If he shut down the government my commute would be heavenly. It is always pretty decent on Fridays when most feds take the day off (”work from home”).


10 posted on 09/04/2018 4:50:06 AM PDT by palmer (...if we do not have strong families and strong values, then we will be weak and we will not survive)
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To: gleeaikin

If you are driving west, the morning traffic is east bound

Morning west bound traffic is not tolled

I think

To get to WV from DC, I would think a route through maryland would be better than on I 66


11 posted on 09/04/2018 5:03:15 AM PDT by bert ((KE. N.P. N.C. +12) Muller..... conspiracy to over throw the government)
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To: gleeaikin
I have to drive alone from Washington, DC to West Virginia this month. I do not have an easy pass. My hours are flexible. How can I avoid the single driver rate on I-66 or completely avoid I-66 to get from one place to the other? I am 80 years old, is there some special relief for the elderly?

The toll lanes are only inside the DC Beltway portion of I-66. The hours are:

You want to avoid the tolls, then either drive I-66 outside the hours of operation if you're inside the beltway, or get on I-66 outside the beltway some other way - such as:

All of those will get you to the DC Beltway, and from there you can get on I-66, avoiding the toll road.
12 posted on 09/04/2018 5:31:39 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (Marxism: Trendy theory, wrong species)
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To: gleeaikin

Oh, and VDOT doesn’t care how old you are (as long as you’re old enough to drive). You’ll get fined no matter the age if you don’t have the special thingy in your window.


13 posted on 09/04/2018 5:33:35 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (Marxism: Trendy theory, wrong species)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Lines of traffic will sort themselves out if the gov’t gets out of the way.


14 posted on 09/04/2018 9:48:20 AM PDT by minnesota_bound
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To: KevinB; All

Thank you Kevin and all the others who gave me useful information on how to avoid the tolls. Now if I can just avoid the hurricane.


15 posted on 09/11/2018 9:53:15 PM PDT by gleeaikin
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