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[AlexandriaVA]

Sounds like the system properly responded to higher demand. If I were a car commuter on the I-66 corridor, I'd want Silver and Orange line capacity to be robust and assured, in order to avoid further incidents like this.

[1995hoo]

Sounds like the system properly responded to higher demand. ....

Agreed. It seems like the Post is determined to invent an imaginary scandal about the tolls.

[cpzilliacus]

Sounds like the system properly responded to higher demand. If I were a car commuter on the I-66 corridor, I'd want Silver and Orange line capacity to be robust and assured, in order to avoid further incidents like this.

I have no issues with the higher tolls on I-66, including the  lack of a cap on those tolls.

I do have issues with Metro not being reliable, given the  amount of tax money that has been  spent on it (and will be spent on it in the future). 

[cpzilliacus]

WTOP Radio: Va. tweaking I-66 toll pricing algorithm

Virginia is making changes as soon as the next few weeks that could lower rush-hour toll prices for some solo drivers on Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway, WTOP has learned.

The changes to the pricing algorithm in coming weeks could lower tolls outside of the very busiest times or on certain days of the week, but may not immediately make significant changes to the peak toll prices at the height of the morning rush hour. At the times with the highest tolls, traffic on Interstate 66 has slowed down somewhat from earlier in the morning.

[mrsman]

WTOP Radio: Va. tweaking I-66 toll pricing algorithm

Virginia is making changes as soon as the next few weeks that could lower rush-hour toll prices for some solo drivers on Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway, WTOP has learned.

The changes to the pricing algorithm in coming weeks could lower tolls outside of the very busiest times or on certain days of the week, but may not immediately make significant changes to the peak toll prices at the height of the morning rush hour. At the times with the highest tolls, traffic on Interstate 66 has slowed down somewhat from earlier in the morning.

This is a good thing.  This shold be a high toll, but not $40 range.  By aiming for 45 or 50 mph (where most similar facilities nationwide aim) would probably keep tolls around $30 at the height of morning rush hour.  A further improvement in the cost will occur if they restrict it to HOV-3,which will happen when the HOT lanes west of the Beltway open.

[cpzilliacus]

This is a good thing.  This shold be a high toll, but not $40 range.  By aiming for 45 or 50 mph (where most similar facilities nationwide aim) would probably keep tolls around $30 at the height of morning rush hour.  A further improvement in the cost will occur if they restrict it to HOV-3,which will happen when the HOT lanes west of the Beltway open.

I  agree generally.  Especially  the part about restricting free passage to HOV-3 traffic (originally when it  opened in 1982, I-66 between I-495 and the Rosslyn Tunnel was HOV-4).

[cpzilliacus]

Washington Post: 66 Express Lanes collect more than $6 million in tolls during first 4 months of operations

Virginia raked in $6.1 million in tolls during the first four months of operation of the 66 Express Lanes, state transportation officials said Thursday.

The new system —with tolls that have reached as high as $47.50 and are among the highest in the nation— is expected to generate $12 million by the end of the fiscal year June 30, the Virginia Department of Transportation said.

The state will allocate nearly half of that amount, $5.7 million, to the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, which is coordinating transit and other transportation projects along the Interstate 66 corridor.

[1995hoo]

WTOP has a report about VDOT’s latest statistics on I-66 HO/T usage: https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2018/08/interstate-66-toll-update-traffic-impacts-how-many-drivers-face-extra-fines-or-fees/slide/7/

Still a substantial number of people without E-ZPass. I wonder when they’ll start getting socked with penalties such that the local media try to invent a scandal.

[AlexandriaVA]

WTOP has a report about VDOT’s latest statistics on I-66 HO/T usage: https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2018/08/interstate-66-toll-update-traffic-impacts-how-many-drivers-face-extra-fines-or-fees/slide/7/

Still a substantial number of people without E-ZPass. I wonder when they’ll start getting socked with penalties such that the local media try to invent a scandal.

Bonus points if they include the phrase "highway robbery".

[Jmiles32]

https://www.insidenova.com/news/fairfax/vdot-reworks-plan-for-i--interchange-at-nutley-st/article_db6c7052-d12f-11e8-a3e0-cbef4dba7d65.html

Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) officials are proposing a fetching new design for the soon-to-be-revamped interchange at Interstate 66 and Nutley Street in Vienna.

Unlike the previous “diverging diamond” design, which would have had two traffic signals, the new “dog bone” plan would feature a pair of roundabouts on Nutley Street north and south of I-66, VDOT officials told the Vienna Town Council in an Oct. 15 briefing.

The new design would have a smaller footprint, provide better traffic flow, have a westbound exit onto Nutley Street from the new Express Lanes and have a shared-use path for bicyclists and pedestrians featuring no at-grade crossings, said Susan Shaw, VDOT’s Northern Virginia Megaprojects director.

VDOT officials say the “Transform 66 Outside the Beltway” project is on schedule to be completed by December 2022. The $3.7 billion initiative is a public-private partnership between VDOT, the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and a private firm, I-66 Express Mobility Partners.

Based off the design the article provides, there also appears to be a new direct exit from the westbound express lanes to Nutley Street with a new light in the middle of the overpass. 

[Jmiles32]

https://wtop.com/local/2018/10/virginia-lowers-tolls-for-solo-drivers-on-interstate-66/

WASHINGTON — Virginia has lowered rush-hour tolls for solo drivers on Interstate 66 inside the Capital Beltway, with a change to the pricing algorithm implemented this summer.

While the average toll paid in August largely dropped due to reduced traffic while people were on vacation, Virginia Department of Transportation Division Administrator for Tolling Operations David Caudill said in an interview that the tolls would not have dropped as much without a change made in July to the way the automated system calculated the amount of traffic on the road.

“If you had the same volume back two months ago, you would have seen a higher toll. So in September, we got bigger volumes because you know school’s back in session, tolls give the appearance of a higher rate back up to $40-plus, but that’s due to volume. It would have been higher had we not made the changes that we made in July,” Caudill said.

The change to the traffic density calculations applies in both the morning and afternoon.

“It seems to have worked and not impacted speeds. Keep in mind, we’ve still got to maintain traffic, the HOV users should not be impacted when we make changes like this,” Caudill said.

That indicates the state did not have to charge tolls quite so high as it had been in the first months after the tolling and expanded HOV hours began last December.

Additional changes to the tolling algorithm are planned one at a time so that Caudill’s team can monitor the discrete impact of each change to the system.

“We feel, on the one that we did in July which directly impacted the dynamic pricing, we got a good result on that, and the next one we look at….the volumes on Fridays are clearly lower in the mornings than they are any other time during the rest of the week, we think there’s an opportunity there to change the dynamic pricing parameters,” Caudill said.

Definitely a start, but more still needs to be done. That third eastbound lane from Exit 67 to 71 can't come soon enough.