The cost for using the I-85 HOT lane through Gwinnett and DeKalb counties hit $7 during Thursday’s morning commute, tying a record set just a day earlier.

The price to bypass slower traffic along the 16-mile stretch of I-85 southbound reached the $7 mark shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday.

The HOT lane toll is set on a sliding scale depending on the level of congestion on I-85 and in the HOT lane.

According to the State Road and Tollway Authority website, “when HOT lanes become too congested, the price increases and this in turn reduces the number of cars entering the lane.”

The website says that the authority’s goal is to keep traffic in the HOT lane moving at an average speed of greater than 45 mph during peak hours.

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Mathew Palmer, a former Delta Air Lines employee, at his home in Atlanta on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025.  Palmer was fired less than two weeks after writing a post on social media about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (Natrice Miller/AJC)