Plans for the new 405 Express Lanes and toll policy are rolling along.
Slated to open to traffic later this year, the new 405 Express Lanes will utilize FasTrak transponders instead of cash payments or toll booths to charge certain drivers. The toll pricing, which varies based on the number of people in the car and time of day, among other things, got approval from the Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors this week.
All vehicles, including motorcycles, will need a switchable FasTrak transponder, which can be purchased for $15 from any California toll agency.
Vehicles with at least three people, a designated veterans license plate or a disabled person license plate, as well as motorcycles, will be able to travel for free on the Express Lanes at any time. Clean air vehicles with the transponder will receive a 15% discount.
For the first three and a half years after the lanes open, vehicles with two people will be able to travel for free during non-peak hours. The toll will be charged, however, during peak hours.
Solo drivers will be charged at all times.
The toll amounts will vary, depending on where a driver enters and exits the Express Lanes and the time of day. The most a driver could pay, according to OCTA officials, is $9.95 for those who travel the whole length of the Express Lanes northbound between 3 and 5 p.m. on a Friday.
Peak hours are from 6 to 10 a.m. and 2 to 7 p.m. on weekdays, said Eric Carpenter, a senior communications specialist for the OCTA. On the weekends, peak hours are set from 1 to 7 p.m.
Toll revenue — once the loan to rebuild the Express Lanes is paid — will fund other transportation projects on the 405, according to the OCTA.
The $2.1 billion improvement project on the 405 is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. The project, tackling one of the most heavily traveled highways in the U.S., according to the OCTA, is now 95% completed.
The project began in 2018 and includes the 16-mile…
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