It is hard to miss the new digital billboard signs hanging over the far-left hand lane of our newly upgraded freeways that reads, “EXPRESS LANES”. Being able to drive in these lanes enables you to reach your destination quicker than being stuck in normal traffic, but, as the sign states, there is a toll.
To pay that toll, one must first purchase a device called the Fast Trak Flex toll tag, which is sold at COSTCO for $25. As a student whose main concern in life right now is getting to class on time, I caved in and bought one.
The problem is the device works with a prepaid account that requires a minimum balance to stay functional, and lane tolls vary in price depending on how many occupants are in the car, what time of day it is, how long you stay in that for, and how much traffic there is.
An article written in 2023 on the California Association of Councils of Governments website (CALCOG) about a pilot program for low-income drivers who use the I-880 express lanes states that “Solo drivers enrolled in the Express Lanes START program will receive a 50 percent discount of the posted toll and two-person carpools will receive a 75 percent discount” (MTC Staff).
However, this does not apply to student drivers. This is especially problematic for Solano County students who don’t live on campus, and have to commute to either Sacramento, or the Bay Area, to attend school every day.
If you have traveled on I-80 recently, or any freeway in the greater San Francisco area, then you know how expensive, and time-consuming, this can be. Not being able to use the express lane can add hours to a daily commute.
According to a 2024 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Traffic on I-80, the region’s busiest highway that connects the Bay Area to Sacramento, continued to grow in 2023…” which is a 7% increase from 2022, says reporter Ricardo Cano, and is likely to keep rising.
With the ever-increasing growth of the population adding to the number of people who travel on our already congested freeways, being on time for class is becoming more difficult for those who cannot afford to utilize the express lane.
“It takes me five hours round-trip to drive to U.C. Berkeley from Fairfield,” says Scott Ferguson, an undergrad student.
He believes that if he could afford to drive in the express lane, his commute time would be cut in half, and less time on the freeway means more time for schoolwork.
Providing student drivers with discounts for using the express lane would help to ease some of the already overwhelming financial burden placed on parents paying for their child’s education, as well as those students who are financially independent, who are struggling to make ends meet.
To learn more about express lanes, visit https://511.org/express-lanes/learn-the-basics.
To learn more about the Fast Trak Flex toll tag, visit https://www.bayareafastrak.org/en/home/index.shtml
