Commuters flock to 95 Express Lanes, following $250M extension project

At the end of December, the 95 Express Lanes became active toll lanes, running from Edsall Road to Garrisonville Road – following an over $250 million dollar 9-mile extension project.

In order to use the lanes, all drivers need to have an EZ-Pass, or EZ-Pass Flex mounted in their vehicles.

According to Mike McGurk, a spokesperson for the 95 Express Lanes from Transurban, the transition for drivers on the lanes has been smooth, and steadily growing.

“We’ve steadily seen more folks out there, using the [toll] lanes,” McGurk said, continuing, “One of the big observations for us is that we’re very pleased with the road operations to date. A lot of areas that we were keeping a very close eye on – areas like the part where the Express lanes end, and the HOV lanes begin – we have not seen a lot of driver confusion in those areas.”

Looking at primary operations data, McGurk stated that the 9-mile extension has been popular for drivers from the start.

“The 9 mile extension – from below Dumfries down to just before 610 – was popular with drivers right from the get go…we saw a lot of folks opting to get on at that first entry point,” said McGurk.

One thing that has been somewhat of an issue on the HOV lanes, and now the toll lanes, are individuals sitting on the shoulder with their vehicle, waiting for road restrictions to be lifted. To respond to that issue, Transurban has partnered with the Virginia State Police to increase their presence in the shoulder areas.

There were two things that McGurk stressed for drivers that intend to use the toll lanes – check your device before your trip to ensure it’s toggled in the right mode (commuter or single driver). And, if you are new to the lanes and drive without an EZ-Pass, reach out to Transurban before getting an invoice for your toll.

“If you take the 95 Express Lanes without an EZ-Pass, what you can do is you can either call our customer service center or go online and if it’s within five days of your trip, you can actually search for your trip and settle the cost of your tolls,” said McGurk.

They also have a first-time forgiveness program for drivers on the Express lanes.

“Look, if it’s your first time getting an invoice – maybe you didn’t know you needed an EZ-Pass, maybe you didn’t have funding on your EZ-Pass – if you call us after getting that invoice, and it’s your first time, we’ll waive all of the fees and just take payment of your toll,” McGurk commented.

If you’re planning use the toll lanes, it’s also important to note that the toll rates change, according to McGurk, based on real-time traffic.

While Transurban plans to use the toll revenue to recoup the cost of front loading the project initially, there are plans in the works to have a revenue sharing agreement. This agreement could be used to fund future VDOT projects, McGurk commented.

More information on the 95 Express lanes from a release:

All information is from December 29, 2014 to January 31, 2015.

95% of weekday 95 Express Lanes customers are traveling with an E-ZPass or E-ZPass Flex

33% of weekday trips are HOV-3+ carpoolers who enjoy a toll-free trip at all hours of the day

The average dynamic toll price on the 95 Express Lanes is $4.01

Since we opened just over a month ago, we have seen more than 200,000 unique customers traveling with an E-ZPass or E-ZPass Flex who have gotten a faster and more predictable trip on the 95 Express Lanes

Nearly 30% of 95 Express Lanes customers have also taken a trip on the 495 Express Lanes during this period, taking advantage of the network of Express Lanes. With the 495 and 95 Express Lanes drivers now have an option to travel at highway speeds for more than 40 miles from Stafford to Tysons Corner

Average weekday toll revenue of nearly $103,000 and average weekday trips just over 37,000. The first quarterly traffic and revenue report with 95 Express Lanes data will be issued in April.