I'd love to know if CalTrans has ever analyzed the success of these Toll Express Lanes in any measure other than revenue collected. Do they actually alleviate traffic? Because during rush hour, it doesn't seem like the existing HOV lanes have much excess capacity. So many HOV violators and enforcement seems very lax.

Shannon, at the end of 2018 a TON of electric (any pre-2017) and natural gas cars will drop off the HOV list. That might reduce to congestion a bit.

Are these new express lanes going to require carpoolers to get one of the adjustable FasTrak transponders, like the new express lanes on 680 north of 580?

I'd be interested to see the data on carpool cheats in the express lanes in other locations such as 237 or 880. My informal count driving home on 101 every day is about 25-35% cheats. Express lanes limit the access and record who goes in/out, so I'm hoping the cheating rate is lower. On the other hand, cheats do clear out the non-carpool lanes for the rest of us, so maybe I should be careful what I wish for.

But - whatever the consequences - it will not relieve congestion IT it is just $$$ rather than 'more passengers' that this toll lane encourages. Like: the More Uber+Lyft / the more downtown cars traffic.

Freaking SCAM of Poop! These lanes do ZERO for traffic, they are simply a luxury tax at the cost of the public. They are completely unconstitutional and should never go in, the roads WILL not get better. Wasn’t that the gas tax already shoved down our throats with ZERO ability to fight it? They road are no better, CA brags about having their cofffers full, we get hit with MORE TAX and WORSE roads and traffic, this is total BULL. Freaking SCAM. VTA is the most incompetent department ever, they couldn’t find their way out of paper bag. Why not shut down an entire lane on 101 while we are at it for a bus only lane so we can watch their empty buses drive along it all day long. This is BULL! Some politician is getting paid that’s for sure.

The only way to alleviate traffic is to build double decker highways. You know, 2 stories high, like apartment complexes. Top traffic would flow in one direction and the bottom in the other.

@Shannon, didn’t you read he article? No study needed it says right there

‘Express lanes will presumably alleviate some traffic woes in the coming years’

That’s real science right there!

What a freaking joke. VTA SUCKS

Shannon, yes. Web Link You'll have to scroll all the way to the end. Starting on page 32 is "Performance Highlights" which includes comments like "Paying customers represented 56% of all users in March".

That said, I'm personally against them for multiple reasons, and believe that they are a net negative in the long run.

Biggest on my list is having housing so far away from work places does not scale. If everything in the bay area doubled; twice as many jobs, twice as many houses (i.e. the ratio of residents and work stays the same), we'll end up solid houses from Salinas to Santa Rosa. We need to fix the ratio of jobs to housing in all bay area cities, starting with our own. Either you have to drive out businesses or build more housing.

The gas tax will be repealed in November and hopefully this will end funding for this insanity. Even though it's tough to vote for something proposed by a right-wing Trump Republican, in this case repealing the gas tax is the right thing to do.

Reasons to Vote Yes (Repeal)

● Not passed by voters.

● Highly regressive.

● Doesn't address the growing number of electric cars and plug-in hybrids.

● Too hard on trucking industry.

● Wrong way to fund road construction and maintenance; we should be using a mileage based Vehicle License Fee instead of a per gallon fuel tax to be fair.

The VTA - like most bureacracies - is in business to increase its own power and income. Tranportation is just a sideline. Toll lanes produce tolls. Toll bridges produce tolls. Toll roads will next produce more tolls. Some toll roads in other states are operated by corporations. Next roads will be sold to China and Russia and Saudi Arabia to offset the national debt. All that smoke in the air should remind us how important air can be. Get ready for the air tax.

Express/Toll lanes are a much better idea than Carpool/HOV lanes. They are more efficient at maximizing economic utility.

Did you take your comment right out of your VTA employee handbook, Larry?

Hopefully, the public has wised up and will refuse to give VTA another dime. VTA's idiotic plan to take two lanes on El Camino for their empty busses was enough to prove how inefficient the VTA is - and expose their failed plan to empire build. Now this is their latest example of incompetence, but the public won't be scammed again.

Another way to separate the haves and the have-nots.

I don't think the hov is even that much faster anymore.