Heads Up: Electric Vehicle Motorists To Pay For Express Lane Use

SAN JOSE, CA -- Drivers of electric vehicles will no longer getting a free ride on State Route 237 next year, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) reported last week.

The new rules apply to the express lane corridor and other future routes for cars known as "clean-air vehicles" (CAVs). The VTA Board of Directors approved at its Dec. 6 meeting a new toll ordinance that will allow collection of toll violations and fees using video enforcement in SR237 Express Lanes.

Currently, the Silicon Valley Express Lanes rely solely on manual enforcement by the California Highway Patrol, with fines collected going to the state. By next summer, video surveillance cameras will be installed on the expanded SR237 express lanes, allowing FasTrak to catch cheaters through technology that reads license plates. The technology is similar to that of the readers already in use on San Francisco Bay Area bridges.

The VTA board approval of the toll ordinance changes the permission for those in solo-driving clean air vehicles with decals issued from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Currently, these decals are considered eligible to use the carpool or express lanes for free. With the new rules, CAVs will be charged half the toll amount if driving solo.

All vehicles in the express lanes will be required to have an active FasTrak account and will need to indicate the number of people in the car using the switchable transponder. This requirement applies to all eligible users: carpoolers, toll-paying solo drivers, CAVs, motorcycles and buses. Carpoolers and motorcyclists will still get to use the express lanes for free by placing the switchable transponder in the No. 2 or 3 position.

The new rules will become effective in summer 2019, when the SR237 Express Lane Phase 2 opens, extending the lanes from their current entry and exit points in north San Jose to Mathilda Avenue in Sunnyvale. For more information or to open a FasTrak account, visit www.bayareafastrak.org/.

When the new SR237 Lanes open in summer 2019, carpool hours are set for 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Toll evaders caught on camera will pay a $25 penalty plus fees, with the fines going to VTA and therefore reinvested in the express lane corridor.

VTA faces budget shortfall

The Board of Directors also unanimously approved recommendations put forth by VTA’s Ad Hoc Financial Stability Committee to address the transportation authority's immediate and long-term financial challenges. VTA is facing a $20 million structural deficit in fiscal year 2018 and $26 million in 2019.

The committee’s suggestions focused on three areas that include specific action, encouragement/policy discussion and further examination.

For example, in order for VTA to remain financially sustainable, the committee determined that the recent redesign effort of VTA’s transit network, known as the Next Network, will need to be implemented with fewer service hours.

The Final Transit Service Plan (Plan) for FY18 & FY19, adopted by the VTA Board on May 4, 2017, included 1.6 million hours of bus service and 192,000 hours of light rail service. The committee recommends a scaling down to 1.52 million and 156,000 respectively.

The committee estimated these new service levels would save about $15 million annually.

There will also be a thorough examination of VTA’s funding base and an identification of additional funding sources.

In addition to approving the onslaught of committee recommendations, the board further directed VTA staff to develop a comprehensive work plan to address the committee recommendations. The work plan and process will be brought to the full board for review in 2019.

--Images courtesy of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority