What to know as I-85 HOT lane opens
An I-85 toll lane user's guide
Register. Every vehicle that sets a wheel in the toll lane must have a Peach Pass, whether paying the toll or not.
No cash. All tolls are electronic.
Tolled: solo drivers and two-person car pools
Free: car pools of three people or more, transit vehicles, motorcycles, cars with alternative fuel license plates, mass transit
Prohibited: trucks with more than six wheels and/or two axles
To switch from toll-paying to free, or vice versa: You must reset your Peach Pass account by phone or computer at least 15 minutes before you enter the lane. If your switching is regular, you can pre-set certain days or times as paying or nonpaying.
How much: The toll ranges from 10 cents a mile to 90 cents a mile, rising with congestion. The State Road and Tollway Authority can go over 90 cents a mile in special cases.
Don’t: cross the double solid lines. Enter or exit only at the dashed lines.
Fines: A violation can reap both a $25 SRTA fine, which happens electronically and is mailed to the driver, and a police fine of up to $150 from troopers who are patrolling the corridor.
For more information and to obtain a Peach Pass, go to www.peachpass.com.
By the numbers
$60 million: the budget for the road project, coming from:
- $12.5 million: the federal grant that kick-started the road project
- $5.6 million: Georgia's federal road funds
- $41.9 million: state funds
The big picture
High tech rules: The congestion is monitored by microwave and laser sensors, and transmitted to computers that determine what the toll should be.
Other lanes: Preliminary work is under way for optional toll lanes on I-75 and I-575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties; and on I-75 through Henry County, scheduled to open by 2016. A metrowide network is planned.
Toll policy: Three-person car pools will ride free on I-85; not on I-75/I-575. Decision not yet made on I-75 in Henry County.
A national trend
Like I-85 in Gwinnett, these optional toll lanes charge an automated variable toll fee, rising and falling with congestion measured constantly by computers. Most of them started charging tolls in the past four years:
- I-15 in San Diego
- I-394 and I-35W in Minneapolis
- Wash. 167 in Seattle
- I-95 in Miami
- I-680 in San Francisco Bay Area
- I-15 in Salt Lake City
Other projects in California, Texas and Denver charge electronic tolls that vary by a pre-set time of day.
Sources: State Road and Tollway Authority, Georgia Department of Transportation
About the Author
Ariel Hart is a reporter on health care issues. She works on the AJC’s health team and has reported on subjects including the Voting Rights Act and transportation.
