From the Washington Post:
A Virginia toll road saved an RV-driving dad 20 minutes — and cost $569
When John Landry’s family went camping near Luray Caverns the first weekend of October, they split into two groups — he and five kids piled into their recreational vehicle, and his wife and their youngest took their minivan.
Worried about traffic on the 85 miles from their home in Falls Church, Virginia, they decided to take the tolled express lanes on Interstate 66 outside the Beltway, both groups heading out during Thursday rush hour and back Sunday afternoon. He estimates the round-trip drive on those lanes — totaling 45 miles — saved about 20 minutes altogether.
Based on other toll roads, he figured there would be a surcharge for the larger vehicle — maybe $20 or $30 each way — but that it would be worth it. A small luxury.
Then about a week later, he started seeing the credit card charges for his E-ZPass: $105 to refill his account, then three hours later, $105 more.
“I said, ‘What the heck is going on?’” That’s when he logged onto the toll device website and learned, to his shock, he had paid $569.50 in tolls.
“It’s much more than we paid for the camping and everything else that we did that weekend,” Landry said. He’s not disputing that the charge is valid or that it should cost more to ride on toll lanes with a bigger vehicle. But, he added, “there’s really no reasonable way to know” that it would be so much: “It just feels like price gouging.”
Nancy Smith, a spokeswoman for the consortium that operates the tolls — I-66 Express Mobility Partners — said Landry’s case seemed to be “an instance of an oversize vehicle using the 66 Express … and being charged the correct toll.” His three-axle 1997 Holiday Rambler Vacationer wouldn’t even be allowed on other express lanes in the state, she noted.
“Larger vehicles must pay a higher toll rate than passenger vehicles” because they take up more room and cause more wear and tear on the road, Smith said.
The lanes, which debuted in 2022, are part of an expanding network of publicly owned and privately operated toll lanes in Northern Virginia. The state touts these expressways as a way to finance road expansion and repair alongside public transit and bike trail infrastructure.
Dynamic pricing for those express lanes, which changes based on congestion and demand, puts the cost on drivers who can afford it. Exemptions for cars with three or more people inside encourages carpooling.
But the lack of a maximum cost on tolls both inside and outside the Beltway can lead to eye-popping sums.
State Sen. Danica A. Roem (D-Prince William), who fought the privatized toll lanes, argues the consortium needs to be more transparent about pricing. Signs give the tolls for one segment of the highway, not the whole length, and only for the smallest vehicles. They do say larger vehicles pay more, but not how much more.
“I get constant complaints about the I-66 express lanes [because] people driving have no idea from the point of entry how much it’s going to cost,” Roem said. “If we cannot fix this administratively in the next year, we are going to have to fix it legislatively.”
The toll consortium’s website explains that vehicles like Landry’s trigger tolls five to seven times the posted fare depending on the time of day. He paid about 6½ times what his wife did.
The express lane signage indicating the toll rate has a digital dollar amount that changes based on congestion and underneath that says, “HIGHER TOLLS FOR LARGER VEHICLES.”
In a statement, the Virginia Department of Transportation said there are “limitations by the Federal Highway Administration on the level of detail that can be included on roadway signs.” It added that tolling by segment rather than giving one price for the length of the highway allows for more accurate shifting of prices, based on traffic volume and congestion in each segment of the corridor.
The private consortium that operates the tolls invested $3.7 billion in the express lane corridor, including construction, maintenance and development of other roads, transit and bike infrastructure in the region.
“This would have been an unfeasible amount for the state to fund by itself,” said Jason Stanford, president of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, which represents business interests that include toll road operators. He said about 10 percent of traffic on I-66 express lanes outside the Beltway are larger commercial vehicles — indicating the cost is worth it for many users.
Landry acknowledges that “the price that they charged me is probably accurate.” He thinks there should be a discount, with a warning, for first-time users in that toll class.
He appealed to the toll operators for a refund, unsuccessfully. So he offers his story as a cautionary tale.
“This is the first time that I’ve been on that toll road,” he said. “570 bucks — it stings.”
A Virginia Toll Road Saved an RVing Dad 20 Minutes and Cost $560
A Virginia toll road saved an RV-driving dad 20 minutes — and cost $569
When John Landry’s family went camping near Luray Caverns the first weekend of October, they split into two groups — he and five kids piled into their recreational vehicle, and his wife and their youngest took their minivan.
Worried about traffic on the 85 miles from their home in Falls Church, Virginia, they decided to take the tolled express lanes on Interstate 66 outside the Beltway, both groups heading out during Thursday rush hour and back Sunday afternoon. He estimates the round-trip drive on those lanes — totaling 45 miles — saved about 20 minutes altogether.
Based on other toll roads, he figured there would be a surcharge for the larger vehicle — maybe $20 or $30 each way — but that it would be worth it. A small luxury.
Then about a week later, he started seeing the credit card charges for his E-ZPass: $105 to refill his account, then three hours later, $105 more.
“I said, ‘What the heck is going on?’” That’s when he logged onto the toll device website and learned, to his shock, he had paid $569.50 in tolls.
“It’s much more than we paid for the camping and everything else that we did that weekend,” Landry said. He’s not disputing that the charge is valid or that it should cost more to ride on toll lanes with a bigger vehicle. But, he added, “there’s really no reasonable way to know” that it would be so much: “It just feels like price gouging.”
Nancy Smith, a spokeswoman for the consortium that operates the tolls — I-66 Express Mobility Partners — said Landry’s case seemed to be “an instance of an oversize vehicle using the 66 Express … and being charged the correct toll.” His three-axle 1997 Holiday Rambler Vacationer wouldn’t even be allowed on other express lanes in the state, she noted.
“Larger vehicles must pay a higher toll rate than passenger vehicles” because they take up more room and cause more wear and tear on the road, Smith said.
The lanes, which debuted in 2022, are part of an expanding network of publicly owned and privately operated toll lanes in Northern Virginia. The state touts these expressways as a way to finance road expansion and repair alongside public transit and bike trail infrastructure.
Dynamic pricing for those express lanes, which changes based on congestion and demand, puts the cost on drivers who can afford it. Exemptions for cars with three or more people inside encourages carpooling.
But the lack of a maximum cost on tolls both inside and outside the Beltway can lead to eye-popping sums.
State Sen. Danica A. Roem (D-Prince William), who fought the privatized toll lanes, argues the consortium needs to be more transparent about pricing. Signs give the tolls for one segment of the highway, not the whole length, and only for the smallest vehicles. They do say larger vehicles pay more, but not how much more.
“I get constant complaints about the I-66 express lanes [because] people driving have no idea from the point of entry how much it’s going to cost,” Roem said. “If we cannot fix this administratively in the next year, we are going to have to fix it legislatively.”
The toll consortium’s website explains that vehicles like Landry’s trigger tolls five to seven times the posted fare depending on the time of day. He paid about 6½ times what his wife did.
The express lane signage indicating the toll rate has a digital dollar amount that changes based on congestion and underneath that says, “HIGHER TOLLS FOR LARGER VEHICLES.”
In a statement, the Virginia Department of Transportation said there are “limitations by the Federal Highway Administration on the level of detail that can be included on roadway signs.” It added that tolling by segment rather than giving one price for the length of the highway allows for more accurate shifting of prices, based on traffic volume and congestion in each segment of the corridor.
The private consortium that operates the tolls invested $3.7 billion in the express lane corridor, including construction, maintenance and development of other roads, transit and bike infrastructure in the region.
“This would have been an unfeasible amount for the state to fund by itself,” said Jason Stanford, president of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, which represents business interests that include toll road operators. He said about 10 percent of traffic on I-66 express lanes outside the Beltway are larger commercial vehicles — indicating the cost is worth it for many users.
Landry acknowledges that “the price that they charged me is probably accurate.” He thinks there should be a discount, with a warning, for first-time users in that toll class.
He appealed to the toll operators for a refund, unsuccessfully. So he offers his story as a cautionary tale.
“This is the first time that I’ve been on that toll road,” he said. “570 bucks — it stings.”
A Virginia Toll Road Saved an RVing Dad 20 Minutes and Cost $560
But there's no excuse not knowing the tolls before entering here, they're on lighted signs. No math involved. Tolls to specific exits are on the signs.
