I-495 Express Lanes Survey Shows Quick Impact

Survey results also reveal barriers preventing commuters from using the lanes, which opened in November 2012.

More than 80 percent of Interstate 495 Express Lanes users have reported reduced trip times, according to the results of a survey of more than 1,700 frequent Capital Beltway drivers conducted by Express Lanes management. Eighty-two percent of users of the Express Lanes polled in the survey “estimated a real time savings on their trip,” according to the results. The lanes opened in November 2012 on the Virginia side of the Beltway promising easier but pricier trips to commuters. All drivers must have an E-ZPass or E-ZPass FlexSM to pay the fares to use the Express Lanes. The survey also revealed some of the barriers preventing people from using the lanes: 46 percent of travelers polled said they don’t have an E-ZPass. For the quickest …

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Examiner: HOT Lanes Project Loses Transit Improvements

State kills $100 million in upgrades, points finger at 18-month lawsuit from Arlington.

The state has killed plans to add four new bus stations, new routes and upgrade other public transportation options on I-95 high-occupancy toll lanes, or HOT lanes, according to the Washington Examiner. About six miles of HOT lanes on I-395 inside the beltway were eliminated in February following an 18-month lawsuit by Arlington County. State Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton told the Examiner "It was the choice of Arlington County to cut it off inside the beltway." This article has been edited to more accurately reflect the Examiner's story.