New apps make it easier to use toll lanes, but no free rides for carpoolers

The practice of using an electronic E-ZPass transponder mounted to your windshield to sail past toll booths is so antiquated.

New cell phone appl now allow drivers to use their license plates, instead of an E-ZPass transponder, to use the toll lanes on Interstate 95, 395, and 495. Drivers can use a phone app to link their license plate to a credit card.

A couple of the new apps, “Uproad” and “Go Toll,” seemingly simplify the process on area toll roads but have no rewards for carpoolers.

According to Uproad, the firm uses digital technology to save time and the environment. Drivers download the app, subscribe, then use their Apple or Android mobile phone to pay tolls.

In Virginia, GoToll can be used on the E-ZPass Express lanes on I-95, 395, 495, on I-66 Express Lanes inside the Beltway, and the Dulles Toll Road (excluding the Dulles Greenway).

However, don’t try to download the app and immediately get onto the toll lanes. “You will need to wait six hours after adding a vehicle to use GoToll on these roads,” states the app developer.

The GoToll app can also be used on certain toll roads in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

The Uproad app can also be used to pay tolls on the I-95, 395, 495 E-ZPass Express Lanes and on the I-66 Express Lanes inside the Beltway and Dulles Toll Road.

Although Uproad and GoToll can both be used in Virginia, Uproad can be used in 20 states, mainly in the midwest and southwest states around the country, not in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida GoToll is accepted.

As far as saving money by carpooling, both apps are more about ease than avoiding tolls or cutting back on the congestion with a carpool.

On the express lanes in Virginia, cars on the 395, 495, and 95 E-ZPass lanes can ride toll-free with three or more passengers. Currently, on I-66 inside the beltway, that number is two on the eastbound lanes in the morning and on the westbound lanes in the afternoons.

When an extension of the I-66 E-ZPass lanes opens in 2022, outside the Capital Beltway from Dunn Loring to Haymarket, vehicles with three or more occupants will ride free during rush hour.

Currently, for those with E-ZPass Flex transponders in their cars, drivers with three or more occupants must toggle a switch to a “toll-free” mode to ride free. It’s up to Virginia State Police to ensure that there at least three people in the car. If not, the driver faces a fine.

According to Elisa Bell of Transurban, the Australian company that manages the E-ZPass lanes on I-95, 395, and 495, “the GoToll product is intended for casual toll road users – drivers that only use toll roads a few times a month, if that. It isn’t meant to replace an E-ZPass. More frequent toll road drivers, including those that carpool, are encouraged to continue to use an E-ZPass,” she said, responding by email.

Therefore, the carpoolers are better off using the EZ Pass Flex to get the toll-free ride provided they meet the requirements.

Uproad does not include an option to allow vehicles with three or more occupants to ride free. “Unfortunately, toll agencies do not yet enable us to provide that coverage,” said Jeanne Salameh, an Uproad spokeswoman.

She looks at the time savings for both the driver and tolling company. “Opening up the industry in this way would further guarantee that their tolls get paid quicker by the end consumer and free up their resources to focus on improving roads instead of chasing down toll road users to collect unpaid tolls,” Salameh said.

Transurban continues to struggle amid the coronavirus pandemic, especially in the Washington D.C. area where many government employees continue to work from home. The average tolls paid on the I-95 and I-495 E-ZPass lanes dropped 31% to $6.48 and 47% to $2.98, respectively.

Overall in North America, the company posted an $84 million loss in its most recent report to investors on February 11, 2021.