Northern Virginia HOT Lanes

[cpzilliacus]

A better sloution to this E-Z Pass flex problem is to have E-Z Pass New Jersey and New York offer flex tags because some of these E-Z Pass NJ/NY users would use the I-495 HOT lanes from VA-267 to I-395 in Springfield, VA 

MdTA does offer E-ZPass Flex transponder, even though there are no current plans for MdTA to be operating HOV/Toll lanes.

I know - I got one from the MdTA's Gaithersburg office (located in the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration's office there (=DMV in most other states)).

[vdeane]

No, of course not. The E-ZPass New Jersey tag belongs to the New Jersey customer service center and would have to be returned to them. It can't be traded in for a Virginia device. If someone with a New Jersey transponder wants to get a Flex transponder from Virginia, the best thing to do would be to set up the Virginia account and obtain the Flex device and THEN cancel the New Jersey account (and send the transponder back, preferably wrapped in foil) once the Virginia one is operative.

But has VDOT lightened up on its historical policy of not issuing Virginia E-ZPass transponders to residents of other states (or at least the ones in the E-ZPass consortium)?  The only movement I've seen on that front is the concession that residents of D.C. (not in the consortium) can get E-ZPasses from VDOT.  See https://www.ezpassva.com/CreateAccount/CreateAccountHome.aspx which points residents of consortium states to their own states' E-ZPass sites.  My wild guess is that those other states won't issue you a Flex transponder, at least not until Virginia's implementation of HOT lanes spreads to other states.

The Maryland Transportation Authority will apparently be issing E-ZPass Flex units, even though  I do not believe they have no intention of allowing a similar HOV exemption on the I-95 Express Toll Lanes in Baltimore County between I-895 and Md. 43.

I had Virginia E-ZPass (and before that, SmarTag) transponders for many years, even though I have never lived in the Commonwealth. I changed not long before Maryland decided to start charging a monthly fee of low-use customers. :-)

Out-of-staters might be able to get "On-The-Go" E-ZPass transponders, including Flex transponders, in-person at some Virginia grocery stores and other retail outlets.  However, they are supposed to register the transponders later (for replenishment of their accounts, after tolls and monthly fees draw down the prepaid balance).  I can't tell if VDOT will allow registration by out-of-staters, or if the participating retailers will even issue "On-The-Go" transponders to out-of-staters.

I think VDOT will issue anyone an  E-ZPass transponder, especially if you walk-in to one of their offices.

A better sloution to this E-Z Pass flex problem is to have E-Z Pass New Jersey and New York offer flex tags because some of these E-Z Pass NJ/NY users would use the I-495 HOT lanes from VA-267 to I-395 in Springfield, VA 

I'd rather they just use a camera to find out if there are passengers and waive the toll if there are.

[1995hoo]

WTOP reports some initial statistics. The one I find interesting is the part about the maximum toll so far to drive the full length having been $2.70.

[iwishiwascanadian]

A better sloution to this E-Z Pass flex problem is to have E-Z Pass New Jersey and New York offer flex tags because some of these E-Z Pass NJ/NY users would use the I-495 HOT lanes from VA-267 to I-395 in Springfield, VA 

MdTA does offer E-ZPass Flex transponder, even though there are no current plans for MdTA to be operating HOV/Toll lanes.

I know - I got one from the MdTA's Gaithersburg office (located in the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration's office there (=DMV in most other states)).

Aren't the Express Lanes on 95 in Baltimore County supposed to be HOT lanes?  If so that would explain why MdTA would be offering the flex transponders.  If not it would just be Maryland making life easier on those who live in the DC suburbs which isn't that bad either. 
quote: end. always.

[cpzilliacus]

Aren't the Express Lanes on 95 in Baltimore County supposed to be HOT lanes?  If so that would explain why MdTA would be offering the flex transponders.  If not it would just be Maryland making life easier on those who live in the DC suburbs which isn't that bad either. 
quote: end. always.

MdTA has always called those lanes Express Toll Lanes, not HOV/Toll Lanes.

My guess is that they will stay that way, just barrier-separated toll lanes with electronic toll collection.

At one time, when I-95/JFK Highway  was widened from six lanes to eight lanes between Md. 43 (White Marsh), Exit 64 and Md. 24 (Edgewood and Bel Air), Exit 77, the left lane was marked "Future HOV Lane," but those signs were removed some years ago.

I think MdTA started offering the E-ZPass Flex transponder as a courtesy to D.C.-area Maryland users of the I-495 toll lanes, though there may come a time when a discount or free passage is offered to HOVs in Maryland.  As far as I know, there are no current plans for that on any of MdTA's toll roads or toll crossings.

[1995hoo]

Everything I've read says that the lanes Maryland are building will be tolled for everyone at all times, no HOV exemption.

[cpzilliacus]

Everything I've read says that the lanes Maryland are building will be tolled for everyone at all times, no HOV exemption.

The only HOV exemption currently in Maryland on toll roads and toll crossings is for buses. 

Most line-haul buses that run on the ICC or crossing the Bay Bridge (there are a few MTA transit routes that use the I-95 Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore City, I am not aware of any that use the I-895 or I-695 crossings) have orange non-revenue E-ZPass transponders on their windshields (for some reason, I don't think Virginia issues non-revenue transponders in orange cases like Maryland does, even though the Dulles Toll Road, the Dulles Greenway and the I-495 HOV/Toll Lanes all provide free passage for line-haul buses).

The buses on the ICC and crossing the Bay Bridge to Queen Anne's County are all contractor-operated. 

The new service on the ICC could presumably have been run by WMATA, but I think Maryland DOT has made an (unstated for public consumption) policy decision not to have any new service provided by WMATA - even the Purple Line and Corridor Cities Transitway, if they get funded for construction, will not be operated by WMATA. 

The relatively recent arbitration win followed-up by  a court win awarding WMATA employees a generous wage increase when most other D.C.-area public employees have gotten little or nothing in recent years probably motivated that decision.

[mtantillo]

It took three days for last week's trips to post to my Virginia E-ZPass account. VDOT says it can take up to seven days. They're treated as "out-of-agency" trips because VDOT does not manage the 495 Express Lanes.

This is interesting.  Tolls from the privately-owned Dulles Greenway show up on my MdTA E-ZPass Account as "VDOT" for  some reason. 

Maybe because the main toll barrier on the Greenway collects money for VDOT (really MWAA now) for all traffic coming from the Dulles Toll Road?

Yeah, it's funny, they all–including the 495 Express Lanes tolls–say "VDOT" under the "Agency" column when I view my transactions online. ("All" meaning Dulles Toll Road, Greenway, and 495 Express Lanes; recent trips on the Intercounty Connector and Pennsylvania's Route 43 just list the agency as MdTA or PTC, respectively.) But I read something on the E-ZPass Virginia site a few weeks ago that said something about checking your replenishment amount if you plan to be a regular user because Express Lanes tolls could take up to a week to post and it said something like "in the same manner as out-of-state tolls."

I can't find that on their website anymore, though. I do see that the ICC and PTC tolls took three days to post in October and the Greenway and Dulles Toll Road tolls posted same-day. The Express Lanes trips on the weekend (Saturday the 17th and Sunday the 18th) both posted on Wednesday the 21st, while the two trips on Monday the 19th both took three days and posted on November 22, which struck me as odd because that's Thanksgiving and I figured they might not post until the next day (just like how the bank doesn't let you schedule an electronic bill payment on a holiday).

In some states in the Northeast that have multiple toll agencies, each agency issues its own tags (see NY, which has tags branded MTA, Port Authority, Thruway Authority, etc.), even if they are all issued through one service center per state (all the above mentioned agencies issue through the NY Service Center).  The key difference being that each agency is a member of the E-ZPass interagency group (IAG). 

In Virginia, a decision was made a while back (probably dating back to when Smart Tag, which had one service center for all toll agencies in Virginia, merged with E-ZPass) that VDOT as a whole would join the IAG, and all toll agencies in Virginia (VDOT, CBBT, City of Chesapeake, MWAA, RMA, Greenway, Pocahontas Parkway/495 express/95 express [all Transurban]) would go through VDOT for E-Zpass services.  Thus, every E-ZPass issued in Virginia is a VDOT branded tag, and the Greenway doesn't issue tags separately from MWAA, for example. 

Thus, any transaction occurring in Virginia is considered an internal "VDOT" transaction for Virginia account holders. 

The processing delay comes from the way the trips are linked I think.  The ICC uses a similar method of compiling trips....gantries over the mainline on each segment....and the computer has to go in and figure out that the multiple tag reads are one "trip" that is charged at the rate in effect when the first gantry was passed. The ICC also has a similar delay in processing trips, usually taking a couple of days more than any other standard MdTA or other out of state transaction to post.  I suppose this is because it takes a while to crunch all of the numbers, and it has to wait for "lack of any additional tag reads" to show that you've exited.  This is different from point-based barrier tolls where a certain amount is charged at each barrier, and multiple barriers passed = multiple tolls, not "one trip".  This is also different from a ticket-system based toll where each toll plaza lane is designated as an entry or exit.  At entry lanes, the entry information is written onto the E-ZPass tag.  At exit lanes, the entry information is read off the tag, the toll computed, and the transaction can post immediately for in-state or within a day for out-of-state. The writing of entry information onto the tag wouldn't work on the ICC or 495 express lanes, because one man's entry gantry could be another man's exit gantry...the system doesn't know until it stops seeing that tag within the system, and it takes a while for it to realize that, and then to compute the toll. 

But somehow toll agencies seem to prefer doing trip/distance based tolls with mainline gantries over each segment, instead of over each entry/exit ramp, as we've seen with the ICC, 495 express lanes, and the proposed conversion of the PA Turnpike.  I'm sure Transurban took into account this delay when they did their financial analysis.  Another downside of using VDOT for E-ZPass...they have to wait for transactions to post before they can get any money...VDOT holds the money in everyone's E-ZPass account.  This unlike the MTA in NY, for example, which gets to hold all of the money in anyone's E-ZPass account (for MTA tags issued by the NY Service Center) and collect interest on it while it sits there.  Transurban doesn't have that luxury, since it doesn't issue tags. 

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post Op-Ed:  Coming to terms with "˜Lexus' express lanes on the Virginia side of the Beltway

Let me start by stating plainly that I recoil at the concept of letting private corporations make millions of dollars by operating public roads.

Dwight Eisenhower built the interstate highway system with taxpayers' dollars, and it's been quite a success. So why are we letting a company based in Australia drain profits from our region for the next 75 years for running the new, confusingly tolled express lanes along 14 miles of the Beltway in Northern Virginia?

[deathtopumpkins]

I'd be inclined to agree with that person, if the entirety of the Beltway were being tolled.

I don't see how there's anything wrong with allowing private companies to build new roads that supplement existing roads. If you don't like the idea of Transurban making money off you, take the general purpose lanes rather than the Express lanes. He talks as if the Express lanes have become the ONLY lanes.

[1995hoo]

I find the "Lexus Lanes" sloganeering especially tiresome in light of some other very high tolls. Taking the Dulles Greenway/Dulles Toll Road combination costs over $7.00 each way (total of about 26 miles). The Verrazano in New York was $13.00 last I knew. The ICC in Maryland is around $4.00. Nobody rails against the "Bentley Bridge" or the "Ferrari Freeway" or "Rolls-Royce Roadway." True, the Beltway toll is continuously variable and could at some point exceed the others I've mentioned–but right now it looks unlikely to do that anytime soon.

I think the point that the Beltway has exactly the same number of lanes as before, plus a massively-improved interchange at I-66 for all traffic, is the key point. It's also the key difference from the I-95 project, which I find very problematic for the reasons discussed at the beginning of this thread.

Incidentally, everyone I know who's driven in the Beltway lanes loved it. Went out to dinner with my parents on Saturday for my dad's birthday and he had used then earlier that day. His only complaint? Hard to keep it below 80 mph. (I was also surprised that when he exited at Gallows he took Woodburn to 236 instead of just looping into the local lanes for one exit. He said the idea never occurred to him!)

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post Op-Ed:  Coming to terms with "˜Lexus' express lanes on the Virginia side of the Beltway

TOLLROADSnews response: Lame-brained lefty at Washington Post gripes about Capital Beltway 495 Express Lanes offending his "principles" CRITICISM

Washington Post metro affairs columnist Robert McCartney writes that the new 495 Express Lanes on the Capital Beltway "offer shorter travel times to people with money. So they're Lexus lanes."  And he says he's "not crazy about... extra convenience for the affluent" because "It offends my egalitarian sentiments."

Poor McCartney is going to spend his life being offended, if we take him at his word.

First class sections on airlines. Million dollar plus homes. Hotels with rooms over $400/night. Plastic surgeons and shrinks. Fancy cheeses in the supermarket. House cleaning services. Fine wines at $30/bottle. Special seating at the ball game. Cruises in the Caribbean.

And of course those Lexus luxury cars.

The list is endless of goods and services that provide extra convenience for the affluent, and supposedly provide offense to the likes of McCartney.

[1995hoo]

BTW, forgot to mention: We were coming back from the 9:30 Club late last night (after midnight) and used the southbound general lanes of I-395 because the HOV was running inbound. As we went around Exit 1C to the Outer Loop I noticed that one last sign has been uncovered on the Beltway. It's located just after the left exit from the Outer Loop to the inbound HOV and it's for the single-lane connection cpzilliacus and I were discussing earlier, the one where my wife starts yelling at me in the final video I posted from the lanes' first day of operation. What's odd about the sign is its design: It has the white "RESTRICTED LANES" banner at the top and then refers to I-95 North/I-495 East towards Baltimore, with a left-exit arrow.

I find the sign peculiar because there are no restricted lanes there and the single lane doesn't connect to anything that is ever subject to an HOV restriction–all it does is branch left and then reconnect to the general-purpose Beltway on the left side of the northbound I-95 flyover. A more correct design MIGHT have mimicked the "I-495 NORTH/Tysons Corner" sign on the Inner Loop after you take the HOV exit–a single lane splits back off to take you back to the Beltway. HOWEVER, I also understand why that would be problematic on the Outer Loop–there, the left lane to which the sign refers is adjacent to the three thru lanes and having a sign implying that you had to exit left to go towards Baltimore, when in fact all you have to do is stay straight ahead, would have been a recipe for trouble. (Indeed it makes me think of the bad old days when VDOT persisted in referring to the thru lanes of I-495 there as an "Exit" and a lot of people quite rightly objected.)

If I can get a picture this afternoon I will.

[1995hoo]

....

Does anyone know if one can exit the outer loop express at Braddock and go straight at the light to head back onto the mainline beltway?  I am not inclined to use the beltway express to the south end because I would have to get over 3 lanes in a very short distance to make the ramp to mainline 95 south which is suicidal at 5:15 in the afternoon...

....

I finally have an answer to this question. Took the Braddock exit from the Express Lanes today to see what was allowed. The ramp ends at a traffic light on Braddock and there are two lanes marked left-only and right-only. So legally you have to turn. As a practical matter, there is no opposing movement that would prevent you from going straight if you wanted, although there is the usual collection of debris and rocks and gunk in the middle of the intersection and you'd run over that if you tried to go straight.

Incidentally, I was rather annoyed when I tried to turn left from Lee Highway (US-29) onto the ramp to the southbound Express Lanes because the traffic lights at that intersection were all on flash (flashing yellow for thru traffic on 29, flashing red for traffic exiting the Beltway, flashing red arrow for me turning left from westbound 29 to the ramp). Of course traffic going the other way was heavy and it took forever to make the turn. Anyone know if this is a normal thing during off-peak hours? I suppose if the Express Lanes traffic is as light as the media keep saying, it makes sense to favor US-29 traffic, but it seems like they could then just put the light on a trip during off-peak times (recognizing that at peak times keeping the lights on 29 synchronized is more important).

BTW, forgot to mention: We were coming back from the 9:30 Club late last night (after midnight) and used the southbound general lanes of I-395 because the HOV was running inbound. As we went around Exit 1C to the Outer Loop I noticed that one last sign has been uncovered on the Beltway. It's located just after the left exit from the Outer Loop to the inbound HOV and it's for the single-lane connection cpzilliacus and I were discussing earlier, the one where my wife starts yelling at me in the final video I posted from the lanes' first day of operation. What's odd about the sign is its design: It has the white "RESTRICTED LANES" banner at the top and then refers to I-95 North/I-495 East towards Baltimore, with a left-exit arrow.

....

If I can get a picture this afternoon I will.

Here's a picture of the sign referenced above. As I said before, it's a rather odd sign for several reasons I mentioned already, but an additional one is that there is no previous sign corresponding to this one:

....

On the return trip I wanted to go to Springfield so I took the HOV ramp to southbound I-95. Interesting drive in this direction (I had previously used it from northbound I-95 to the Inner Loop). The exit from the Outer Loop feels like it's plunging down into a cave or a canyon as it leaves the Beltway to the left. The ramp has a bit of a roller-coaster feel to it, IMO, and this just accentuates it. ....

Here's the first portion of that ramp (click to play):



Incidentally, the ramp that descends to my left is the I-395 southbound HOV ramp to the Inner Loop. It must not get much traffic yet because when I drove on it earlier today there were around a hundred birds all sitting in the roadway that took to the air in a panic as I drove through. Weird experience!

Speaking of which....I noticed that the advance signs over the southbound HOV prior to the Turkeycock ramps have been revised. See picture below from AARoads.com. The "I-95 NORTH 495" line has been greened-out on those signs, which makes sense because now there's no need to exit there to get to the Beltway. In a few years, of course, the incentive for exiting might return when HO/T begins on Shirley Highway south of Turkeycock.

[NE2]

I finally have an answer to this question. Took the Braddock exit from the Express Lanes today to see what was allowed. The ramp ends at a traffic light on Braddock and there are two lanes marked left-only and right-only. So legally you have to turn.

Is this actually true, in the absence of a 'no straight' sign? I've seen many surface intersections where new construction changed a T into a cross, but the arrows were not updated.

[Alps]

I finally have an answer to this question. Took the Braddock exit from the Express Lanes today to see what was allowed. The ramp ends at a traffic light on Braddock and there are two lanes marked left-only and right-only. So legally you have to turn.

Is this actually true, in the absence of a 'no straight' sign? I've seen many surface intersections where new construction changed a T into a cross, but the arrows were not updated.

Pavement markings are considered regulatory. If it's MUTCD compliant, I'd abide by it.

[1995hoo]

I finally have an answer to this question. Took the Braddock exit from the Express Lanes today to see what was allowed. The ramp ends at a traffic light on Braddock and there are two lanes marked left-only and right-only. So legally you have to turn.

Is this actually true, in the absence of a 'no straight' sign? I've seen many surface intersections where new construction changed a T into a cross, but the arrows were not updated.

Pavement markings are considered regulatory. If it's MUTCD compliant, I'd abide by it.

Wasn't just pavement markings, either: The traffic lights had the "[left arrow]-only" and "[right arrow]-only" signs next to them, so I'd consider those pretty conclusive. I didn't post a picture of the signs because it didn't come out due to the afternoon lighting.

[Mapmikey]

Thanks for posting what the top of that ramp looks like. 

Incidentally, the US 29 stoplights were not flashing when I drove by at 5:40 this morning...

Mapmikey

[froggie]

Tried out the Inner Loop HO/T Lanes mid-day Monday.  Very empty and only $1.65, even though there was a slowdown in the main lanes north of Braddock Rd due to roadwork.  A bit weird having nothing but a double-white line and bollards separating the HO/T lanes and main lanes for the most part...someone asked on Facebook a few weeks ago why they didn't just put in a permanent barrier.  Reason being is that modern standards would require full shoulders on both sides of the barrier, requiring a lot more space...about 20ft (give or take a few) on each side of the Beltway.

[1995hoo]

Tried out the Inner Loop HO/T Lanes mid-day Monday.  Very empty and only $1.65, even though there was a slowdown in the main lanes north of Braddock Rd due to roadwork.  A bit weird having nothing but a double-white line and bollards separating the HO/T lanes and main lanes for the most part...someone asked on Facebook a few weeks ago why they didn't just put in a permanent barrier.  Reason being is that modern standards would require full shoulders on both sides of the barrier, requiring a lot more space...about 20ft (give or take a few) on each side of the Beltway.

I've seen various reports stating that the State Police favored the bollards for the additional reason that in the event of a severe accident that backs up the Beltway, emergency vehicles could use the Express Lanes and then have the bollards removed to let them get to the scene.

[cpzilliacus]

Installing new markings on the backtop of the Inner Loop approaching the entrance to the HOV/Toll lanes.

[1995hoo]

^^^^ Interesting to see them using the words. I kind of thought they were going to use the E-ZPass logo like they did on the approaches to the main toll plaza on the Dulles Toll Road. Either way, though, I've noticed way fewer instances of last-minute lane changes in the past week or so.

Dr. Gridlock does an online discussion most Mondays and while I didn't participate this week, I saw the transcript later and I noticed that some people were complaining that the signs for the Express Lanes say "E-ZPass" but do not use the word "Toll" anywhere. The MUTCD renderings for "Priced Managed Lane" signs don't envision the word "Toll" because they want the logo for the ETC system used instead, but of course the person asking the question has probably never heard of the MUTCD. What I find amusing is the idea that (a) those numbers preceded by dollar signs are apparently insufficient to tell this person that there's a toll and (b) anyone living anywhere from Virginia (except maybe the far southwestern extremes) to Massachusetts would not know what "E-ZPass" is. (Yeah, I know New Hampshire and Maine have E-ZPass facilities, but in each case it's one facility in a small part of the state, so people living at the other end of the state might not care enough to learn about it.)

[cpzilliacus]

^^^^ Interesting to see them using the words. I kind of thought they were going to use the E-ZPass logo like they did on the approaches to the main toll plaza on the Dulles Toll Road. Either way, though, I've noticed way fewer instances of last-minute lane changes in the past week or so.

I took that image while driving with my "real" camera (not the smartphone), after having passed the work party once (and not had my camera at the ready).  Since I had the time, I exited at Va. 620 (Braddock Road), went back to Va. 613 (S. Van Dorn Street), turned around and was able to snap that image. 

But when I tried to change lanes to get out of the approach to the HOV/Toll lanes to exit at Va. 620, there was an idiot in the left "free" lane that tried to prevent me from changing lanes - after I signaled a lane change, he sped-up to get in my blind spot and then honked his horn (maybe it was the ghost of Dr. Nestor - looked like an old white-haired man behind the wheel).  So I can understand that some people may have a hard time getting out of those lanes, if that is not where they want to be.

Dr. Gridlock does an online discussion most Mondays and while I didn't participate this week, I saw the transcript later and I noticed that some people were complaining that the signs for the Express Lanes say "E-ZPass" but do not use the word "Toll" anywhere. The MUTCD renderings for "Priced Managed Lane" signs don't envision the word "Toll" because they want the logo for the ETC system used instead, but of course the person asking the question has probably never heard of the MUTCD. What I find amusing is the idea that (a) those numbers preceded by dollar signs are apparently insufficient to tell this person that there's a toll and (b) anyone living anywhere from Virginia (except maybe the far southwestern extremes) to Massachusetts would not know what "E-ZPass" is. (Yeah, I know New Hampshire and Maine have E-ZPass facilities, but in each case it's one facility in a small part of the state, so people living at the other end of the state might not care enough to learn about it.)

I can understand that there are drivers from place where E-ZPass is not widely known (areas of Virginia along the I-81 corridor, and parts of Southside that are not too close to Richmond, for example), but anyone that has driven on the Dulles Toll Road/Greenway or across the Chesapeake Bay or to or through Baltimore, Philadelphia, most of New Jersey and large areas of metropolitan New York really ought to understand what E-ZPass means. 

Though all of the entrances to Md. 200 have a TOLL banner above the 200 shield, in addition to the E-ZPass logo.

Still, as you say above, the prices should convey a message.

Regarding Maine and New Hampshire, I believe the only toll facility in Maine is the Turnpike - and all of the toll roads in New Hampshire are in the southern part of the state (except for the private toll road that leads to the crest of Mount Washington).

But most of the population is in or near the areas served by the toll roads. 

I have driven I-95 all the way to the Canadian border at Houlton, and north of Bangor, it gets very desolate.

[1995hoo]

....

Though all of the entrances to Md. 200 have a TOLL banner above the 200 shield, in addition to the E-ZPass logo.

....

The Intercounty Connector is arguably different from Virginia's HO/T or "Express Lanes," though, because it's entirely a toll road and so it's subject to different MUTCD provisions.

As I typed this post I opened up another browser tab to look at Part 2G of the MUTCD where it talks about "Priced Managed Lanes." Indeed my recollection was correct–the sample signs shown there do NOT use the word "Toll" anywhere except in the mock logo for the ETC system (they show a fictitious logo very similar to E-ZPass but called "TollPass"). If the people building the lanes are attempting strict adherence to the MUTCD guidelines, then the word "Toll" wouldn't appear. Virginia's signs aren't quite the same as what the Manual shows because of the use of the VMS system to show three destinations and toll rates, rather than having the destinations appear in a "standard" BGS format with small VMS panels next to them showing the toll. But I suspect to the extent some kind of variance was permitted it had to be as limited a variance as possible.

Florida's signs for "SunPass Only" lanes usually have a "Prepaid Tolls Only" banner. I've always found it to be slightly odd but nonetheless effective.

To some extent I think signs with an ETC logo should convey a message to drivers that if you don't know what "E-ZPass" or "SunPass" means, don't go into that lane. It's sort of like back in the 1980s when the first HAZMAT signs appeared on the Beltway and said "HAZMAT CARRIERS RIGHT 2 LANES ONLY." I was in my teens and I remember asking my father what that meant and he said it referred to hazardous materials; I replied, "Then they should say that so people know what it means." His reply made a lot of sense: "The people at whom that sign is aimed know what it means and it doesn't really matter for everyone else." Other people must have wondered too, though, because the signs were amended to say "HAZMAT TRUCKS."

Of course, "E-ZPass Only" is a little different because it DOES matter for everyone.



(Edited to fix a misspelling)

[deathtopumpkins]

(Yeah, I know New Hampshire and Maine have E-ZPass facilities, but in each case it's one facility in a small part of the state, so people living at the other end of the state might not care enough to learn about it.)

Just pointing out, neither of those are true. New Hampshire has the Spaulding (NH 16), Blue Star (I-95), and Everett (US 3) Turnpikes, which total 617 lane miles and pass through all the state's major cities, including Nashua, Manchester, Concord, and Portsmouth. Maine has the Maine Turnpike, which is 101 miles long and stretches from York almost to Augusta, which is exactly a third of the way across the state, but connects to all the significant cities except Bangor. I've noticed in both of those states the toll roads are pretty well-known and large percentages of the population have a transponder.



Re: the HOT lanes, no one from Virginia or Maryland should have any issue understanding that "E-Z Pass Express" means tolled. Especially with all the years of public outreach, the fact that the area has numerous other toll roads, and the fact that the signs display prices! What do they think those are, the approximate amount of gas you'd consume to get there? Although given the stupid comments I've read from people over the course of the HOT lane construction it really shouldn't surprise me...