New app lets drivers use toll lanes without E-ZPass transponder

Now there’s a way to use the tolled lanes on Virginia’s highways without having to use an E-ZPass.

A new app that can be downloaded to your cell phone will allow you to register your license plate, and then pay to use toll lanes like the E-ZPass Express Lanes on Interstate 95, 395, and 495. An E-ZPass or E-ZPass Flex transponder is not required.

The new “GoToll” app is designed for those who don’t frequently use the lanes, or who may be traveling from out of town. Similar to toll-by-plate, GoToll is another option for non-E-ZPass customers.

However, to use the app, users will need to register with their license plate and a credit card. GoToll customers pay as they go and can use the app to keep track of toll road trips with just their phones.

Drivers will not have to pre-load cash into an account, as is required with E-ZPass.“As a sign of the times, GoToll is an app that keeps motorists mobile, especially the one in four Virginia motorists who doesn’t have an E-ZPass,” noted John B. Townsend II, Manager of Public and Government Affairs, AAA Mid-Atlantic. “It will enable drivers to stay on the go, pay their tolls by phone, and cruise through Express Lanes in Virginia. On top of that, GoToll virtually eliminates the prospect of getting a toll violation.”

The app was developed by Transurban, the operators of the express lanes on I-95, 395, and 495 in Virginia. The firm says the app will work on the following highways, including ones Transurban is not contracted to operate, the like the new I-66 E-ZPass Express Lanes that will open in 2022, between Haymarket and the Capital Beltway.

GoToll works on 12 Virginia toll roads in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads: 495 Express Lanes, 95 Express Lanes, 395 Express Lanes, 66 Express Lanes, Dulles Toll Road (not yet accepted on the Greenway), 64 Express Lanes, Elizabeth River Tunnels (Midtown), Elizabeth River Tunnels (Downtown), South Norfolk Jordan Bridge, Dominion Boulevard, Chesapeake Expressway and Coleman Bridge.

Drivers will need to wait 6 hours after adding a vehicle to use GoToll on the 495, 95 and 395 Express Lanes, a Transurban spokesman tells us.

There is some bad news for those who use the express lanes for free for carpooling. Transurban tells us the new app cannot be used in the same way as an E-ZPass Flex transponder, which allows drivers to use the express lanes for free if they have three or more occupants inside their vehicle.

The firm tells Potomac Local News that they’re continually looking to add new features, however.

Another important point that we’ve reported here at Potomac Local News many times: Virginia charges drivers a $10 annual fee for an E-ZPass Flex transponder if it’s not used at least once every six months in free, or carpooling mode.