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| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
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Angelika Unfortunately, I'm now facing a long commute and spend long hours on most days driving to and from my new workplace. Traffic is now almost as bad as before the pandemic, especially on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, because that's when most Silicon Valley companies like Facebook, Google, Apple require their employees to be in office. Politically speaking, little moves when it comes to traffic in this country, even in California. For decades, people have been arguing about a high-speed train between San Francisco and Los Angeles without any progress. Even plans to expand BART, the subway system of the Bay Area, aren't going anywhere due to high costs. It's all moving way too slowly.
The planners at CalTrans, the California traffic agency, have now started the construction of what are known as "Express Lanes" on our freeways. I don't know if this is really the smart thing to do in order to accelerate the traffic policy turnaround. These restricted lanes on American highways have actually been around for a long time, especially in the Los Angeles area. The original idea was to reward drivers who do not travel alone, and encourage them to form carpools. If a driver has a passenger in the car, they can use the carpool lanes during rush hour, which are supposed to be less congested, helping you to reach your destination faster. Even electric cars with a clean air sticker on the windshield are allowed to use these special lanes, even if there is only the driver in the car.
On Highway 101, which runs from San Francisco down to Silicon Valley, there are now express lanes that require a toll in many areas. If drivers are alone in the car and want to use these lanes, they must pay an extra fee between 5am and 8pm. However, electric vehicles and carpoolers receive discounts: for electric vehicles as well as cars with two or more occupants, it's half price. For three or more passengers and motorcyclists, the lanes are toll-free. Anyone wishing to use the lane, regardless of how many people are in the car, needs a Fastrak device.
Now the crazy thing about this is that these new express tracks have dynamic pricing. The more congestion there is, the more expensive it is to use the fast lanes. Large signs over the lanes show how much the section from here to certain exits currently costs, which can range from 50 cents to $12. There are several sections between San Francisco and Mountain View. With heavy traffic, toll for the express lanes can really add up. This new system is supposed to improve the flow of traffic on the freeway. I doubt that. The revenue generated by the tolls collected is allegedly invested in the expansion of public transportation. That would be nice, because California really needs to make progress on this at some point. I would love to take the train from San Francisco to Mountain View, for example. There's even a high-speed regional express called "Bullet Train", but getting to and from the train station with public transport is onerous and time-consuming, and driving is still much faster, even in heavy traffic.
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