If you think Washington state’s tolls were bad, consider the toll that 28 drivers in Virginia paid on Interstate 66’s new express lanes last week: $40.
According to the Virginia Department of Transportation, this toll only applied to eastbound drivers heading to downtown Washington from the Capital Beltway for a six-minute period shortly after 8 a.m. last Tuesday.
According to the New York Times, the tolls change every six minutes, depending on how many people are on the road.
Carpoolers do not have to pay the weekday tolls, which may explain why the percent of carpool trips increased throughout the week, according to VDOT's analysis of the I-66 traffic during the first four days of express lanes.
If the drivers who paid $40 last Tuesday took the same route the next morning, they would not have paid the same amount. Last Wednesday, the eastbound morning toll peaked at $23.50.
Although 28 drivers ended up paying $40 last Tuesday, approximately 41 percent -- that’s 5,965 eastbound drivers -- did not have to pay a toll that morning because they had passengers. Between 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., one-third of drivers paid less than $10.
The Washington Post reported that Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne responded to claims that the tolls are unfair. She said no one actually has to pay a toll.
“You simply could have put another person in your car and avoid a toll,” Layne said.
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