(AP File)
(KTSF by Trista Wang) In the South Bay, with express lanes already open on portions of highway 680 south bound, the VTA opened additional express lanes last week on 237 and the interstate 880 corridor.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) hopes the express lanes will help provide reliable travel options to Bay Area commuters and maximize usage and capacity in these lanes during commute hours.
In the next 25 years, MTC says it will develop and implement express lanes on parts of interstates 80, 880 and 680 as well as the Dumbarton and San Mateo-Hayward bridge approaches.
MTC aims to open these Phase 1 projects, totaling approximately 76 miles of lanes in 2015. Phase 1 projects involve Interstate 680 in Contra Costa County and three bridge approaches in the East Bay – the Bay Bridge, the San Mateo Bridge and Dumbarton Bridge. Phase 1 projects call for converting existing carpool lanes into express lanes that would be open to carpools free of charge and to solo drivers for a variable fee.
John Goodwin from MTC explains that the dynamic toll system will help to ease the congestion and ” it’s priced high enough at all times to make sure the traffic flows swiftly through the express lanes. We will be looking at the minimum speed in the express lanes of 45 mile an hour as the lanes gets more crowded , the price goes up.”
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