"They'll come up with the cash finally to install the lauded infrared-cameras which will prevent anyone from further exploiting the loophole..."

Don't worry too much about that. Studies done in Atlanta have shown that IR cams, even with bright IR flashes lighting the subjects, can't see through baby shades stuck to the side windows (and some tinting, but that's probably too dark to be legal in Va anyway). It will still be up to the cops to visually catch people cheating HOV by using the wrong transponder setting if Transurban can't see into your back seat.

Dear Lane.Myer,

Please stop misleading people.

I got a ticket when using HOV mode and driving by myself(which was an honest mistake) The overhead EZ pass readers do send the information to Police officers(VA State Trooper in my case) who are waiting further down the road. I was told that by the officer and the official 495 express lanes website explains that clearly.

https://www.495expresslanes.com/faqs See the FAQ about Enforcement.

Don't take a chance and follow the rules.

Of course, paying a private and a foreign company(Transurban-Austrailia which owns and maintains 495 express lanes) doesn't make drivers happy but our state leadership and officials have made the decision(Stupid one, IMHO) and we have to live with it. Upon doing further reading, I found out that it is believed that VDOT is prohibited by contract from improving other alternative roads which drives traffic away from Express lanes. What a Shame, if true and accurate.

Good news is that Transurban has yet to post profit from Express Lanes. I think Citizens should keep it that way and force them out of business. There are horrible stories about drives being hit with ridiculously high admin fees and fines for missed tolls, transponder malfunctions and other issues. Some People are considering Class Action Lawsuit as well.

http://pricefixer.blogspot.com/2013/06/ive-posted-about-i-495-express-lanes-on.html

Maybe someone should run a social media campaign against it. Maybe start a facebook page to oppose Transurban and privatization of public roads.

^^^ anon Transurban employee trying to get you to not cheat so they can turn a profit $$$$

Why do children count for HOV? It's no like they could be driving a separate car. It's similar to counting dogs as passengers.

Jk6NP Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Why do children count for HOV? It's no like they
> could be driving a separate car. It's similar to
> counting dogs as passengers.

I have always wondered this too. Also elderly who can no longer drive and patients in an ambulance because they would obviously not be driving then.

I agree with you that if a family was killed in the HOV lanes due to a drunk driver or something that murder charges should not be filed on account of any victims not old enough to drive, only the adults that have a current license.

^^^
Sarcasm for the sarcasm-impaired.

Transurban with another shakedown, $10,000+ for eleven trips on expired credit card.

http://www.wtop.com/41/3630326/11-trips-on-495-Express-Lanes-10000

adriver Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Transurban with another shakedown, $10,000+ for
> eleven trips on expired credit card.
>
> http://www.wtop.com/41/3630326/11-trips-on-495-Exp
> ress-Lanes-10000

Nothing to do with misusing the HOV ON switch on the doo-dad. If she had the switch there, she would not be dealing with any of this now.

The problem I have with these HOT Lanes (and the upcoming lanes on 95/395) is that when the profits fall short of what is needed, ALL Taxpayers kick-in and pay Transurban.

The deal, as I understood, was if the lanes were expected to make 8 Million/yr. and they only make 2.5 Mil., then we (Taxpayers) have to pay the difference. It's guaranteed profits for Transurban for building the infrastructure.



Then, the next issue I have - and NOBODY Has been open about this, is about using the I-95 "HOV" Lanes during "NON HOV HOURS".

Currently, if not during set times, one can use the middle, reversible lanes if they are flying under the 3 in a car requirement. But does that change once the new gantries are in place?

Right now, if I am so inclined, I can drive on the center lanes from Springfield to DC (or as I frequently do, take the Pentagon/Crystal City exit), and as long as I am off the roadway by 6 AM, I am good... But will that end with the new lanes/configuration? I noticed the last gantry is strategically placed near Edsal Rd.

VDOT/Transurban have been silent on this, and last time I looked at their planning sites and FAQ sections, no mention of this was made.

Silently taking away your rights to free travel, one gantry at a time.

...in the 22039 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Then, the next issue I have - and NOBODY Has been
> open about this, is about using the I-95 "HOV"
> Lanes during "NON HOV HOURS".

I think I saw it on the website but if not, I'll bet it will be just like the 495 lanes: Toll unless you have 3 or more in the car. And you have to have the Flex transponder to take advantage of it regardless. The after-hours free use "party" of the HOV lanes on 95 is about to end.

When the HOT lanes are up and running next year, you will have to pay the toll from Springfield to Edsall road 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if you have less than 3 people in your car. (You can avoid the toll by getting on the HOV lanes after Edsall Road. The HOV lanes will still be 3+ riders only from Edsall Road to the DC line and vice versa from 6:00AM - 9:00AM and 3:30PM - 6:00PM. Hybrids with special clean fuel tags can will still be able to use the HOV lanes at all times from Edsall Road to DC, but they will have to pay to use the HOT lanes from Springfield to Stafford.

Stabitha, I laughed so hard reading your response to Buttscrewed I was crying!

Folks, any advice? My son, in MD, with EZ Pass transponder, was taking a job related class last summer, held in Fairfax County for one week. The EZPass is in my name and I was in Europe. The funds must have run out, and later that summer, he gets a notice of 5 violations. For EZ Pass. I called the MD EZ Pass folks who said VA must not have recognized our transponder. He was in touch with the Fairfax Co folks who reviewed his case, and (they say now) called and left him a message on his cell phone to pay $148 to clear up the entire situation (that was about $900.)

Don't think he ever got the call. So, it went to collections and the courts that just (Aug 2014) sent him a court date with $10,000 in fines for not paying. Wouldn't they have to mail him a notice of that, as well, and not leave a voicemessage on a cell phone? And from 900 to !0,000? He has a nice job and his employers were sending him to a special personnel training class. My account on EA pass must have gone empty a few days because I returned soon after, and updated the account. This seems realllllly unfair.
Any advice? Get a lawyer and hope for a good judge?

I'm confused...

My EZ-Pass account automatically puts a charge on my credit card on file when my account balance gets low and I get an email notification of that transaction. Is VA saying your transponder wasn't reading when it was going through the tollbooth? If that's the case, I'd contact them about making a test run to confirm that or not...

But, to answer your question directly, local news has been littered with stories like this where people have racked up serious fines, penalties and collection fees related to EZPass. I think in some cases if there's an administrative error, they whittle down the total but you'll need a lawyer and a day in court to resolve that generally. But, when use of the tollways involved willful disregard of paying the toll...they setup payment plans to collect the ENTIRE amount. There was some dude a few months back that is on a 30 year payment plan.

Start making calls, start visiting the appropriate authorities and start logging date, time and who you talked to. Additionally, going forward make sure you have access to your EZPass account online and like any other online account involving money, logon and check the account on a monthly basis. Whether you have used the account (the transponder in this case) or not. Don't get surprised...mistakes happen frequently and they're not always your mistakes. The sooner you identify a problem, the sooner it can be resolved.

Did your son notice if the light turned green as he passed the booth or did the bell start ringing?

Lane.Myer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> I have no doubt my free reign on the lanes will
> eventually end. They'll come up with the cash
> finally to install the lauded infrared-cameras
> which will prevent anyone from further exploiting
> the loophole and I say, good for them.

Currently their in no infrared camera technology that can see through glass available for commercial usage. Even if they were able to procure the most advanced cutting edge military grade system ( if it was to even exist)it would only be a matter of turning on your defroster hot or cold to fog out any image data.

In this thread: A bunch of tards who don't realize the system records your switch setting when you enter. If you throw it to a different position later the system recognizes it. Have fun with your tickets!

Laughing at Tards Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In this thread: A bunch of tards who don't realize
> the system records your switch setting when you
> enter. If you throw it to a different position
> later the system recognizes it. Have fun with your
> tickets!


Yup, so you enter in the lanes in HOV mode, you only switch it if you see VSP camping on the side. You pay the regular toll in this case.

Laughing at Tards Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In this thread: A bunch of tards who don't realize
> the system records your switch setting when you
> enter. If you throw it to a different position
> later the system recognizes it. Have fun with your
> tickets!

Gee...you got me...WOW...I might have to pay ONE...ENTIRE...TOLL. Now...where WILL I get that money to pay?

Here's the thing...the HOT/495 Express Lanes opened in November 2012. We're quickly approaching 2 years that the lanes have been opened. Again, I reiterate...

That's two years, 5 days a week, two full length trips daily and...NOT ONE CENT IN TOLLS, NOT ONE TICKET, NOT ONE SUMMONS AND NOT ONE BILL. Short of a moving violation, speeding, an accident, my license plates expiring etc...please explain to me how VASP is going to spot that I am riding alone AND in violation of the HOV exemption when the trooper is sitting still and I am going AT LEAST 70 mph?

The enforcement of the HOV exemption is predicated on the honor system and the police in turn catching me or another motorist with fewer than 3 people in an otherwise HOV-classed vehicle. As long as he doesn't see me flip the switch and he won't as I have explained in my above posts...there's nothing he can do. Less than 7% of all trips on the HOT/495 Express Lanes are in fact taken under the HOV-exemption...but don't take my word for it, go to their website. They report out on this monthly and there's also a cumulative.

I'm DELIGHTED to potentially pay ONE TOLL for 2 years of cost-free use...so, as I'm pulling away from the aforementioned citation-less traffic stop...I'll gladly leave the switch in the "pay" position and rack up, what? A $3 toll? Done...where do I sign?

i never pay either... Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Laughing at Tards Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > In this thread: A bunch of tards who don't
> realize
> > the system records your switch setting when you
> > enter. If you throw it to a different position
> > later the system recognizes it. Have fun with
> your
> > tickets!
>
>
> Yup, so you enter in the lanes in HOV mode, you
> only switch it if you see VSP camping on the side.
> You pay the regular toll in this case.

No, you don't. Because the cop's transponder scanner will tell him your car entered HOV mode, and it'll alert him you've switched it. Good luck with that!

I don't know how the beltway does it, but on I95, the system records your setting on entry. The cop sits near one of the readers and has a laptop showing cars coming through, designated as HOV when they entered. The system will detect a changed state on the transponder. Bottom line, the cop will see a single in HOV car, and he will have an indication you changed the transponder. Enjoy that phat ticket.

I have also been taking the HOV lanes for years without paying, probably 8 trips per week. However, in the last two weeks, two different friends of mine have reported getting tickets for HOV violations! Does anyone know if they just installed the technology? This is terrible!!! One of the police officers told my friend that a light goes off in a certain color to show the police officers that the setting was set to HOV.

Again...the system relies on the gantry lights flashing a certain color and the trooper has to see this, acknowledge to himself it's the right color and then pull a driver over? It might...just might end up being a "phat ticket" but, balanced against the now YEARS of toll-free use...I'm still coming out ahead. Just the time saved ALONE is money in my pocket. Time at home with my family where a man belongs after putting in an honest day's work so that he can enjoy the fruits of that work together with those that he loves.

Also, there's a lot of nuance here...if you're running in the express lanes solo with the transponder in the HOV position, you have to be on your guard. You have to be scanning the shoulders and overpasses looking out for troopers. We already know based on the "flashing light" revelation that they have to be positioned just beyond the gantries in order to view the light to confirm the switch position. And indeed, there are some troopers' vehicles equipped with an antenna array on the side of their vehicles. This allows them to read transponders in real time. But, it's a small percentage of vehicles. In a given week, I only ever see one or two.

But, the trooper sitting near the backside of gantries watching the flashing lights? As I said...be on the lookout for these guys. Move to the furthest lane from the shoulder they're sitting on to increase their level of difficulty. (Generally, they prefer the left shoulder so travel in the right lane when you can...) And then watch your mirrors as you pass a stationary trooper...and EXPECT to be pulled over.

If you are anticipating all of this properly, you'll need to switch your transponder off of the HOV setting and IMMEDIATELY pull over to the shoulder BEFORE you cross under another gantry. The trooper will pull up behind you, you will have your window down, radio off and a pleasant disposition. You will then allow him to inspect your transponder and see that it is in the non-HOV position. I guess he could claim he "saw" you switch it. But, I wouldn't expect that from a trooper...only a county or city officer and they don't patrol the express lanes, only state troopers do. Having the max tint on your rear windows also increases the trooper's degree of difficulty.

I also read on another thread here a few weeks ago about troopers pulling over drivers with 2 kids in the backseat, meaning they qualify for the HOV exemption but the police are spot checking to be sure. So, it's the herd, mule, drug trafficking mentality. Thousands of trucks are sent over the border with illegal narcotics everyday...they can't stop them all. Some will get through.

Every tax paying citizen has ALREADY paid for the construction of these lanes and we're all entitled to use them without any additional tolls that...oh by the way, are going to Australia. The same Australia where the contractor hosted 54 representatives and staff members of the VA state legislature charged with making the decision on who the contractor would be on a fishing trip. Yeah...some fishing trip...

You have to have EZ pass to be in any express lane, period.

I am just wondering how would the cop find out I only have two people in my tinted van while have the EZ pass on HOV-3 mode?

Oh, by the way to everybody, according to aurhority, police cars traveling along with you have reader to identify if you have EZ pass, what type of EZ pass, and what mode the EZ pass it is in.

so I just got a hov violation ticket. my ezpass wasn't on HOV. However the officer pointed out that the HOV wasn't completely covered. Should I fight it or just pay the fine?

Thermal canera has been installed I495 inner loop just before Lee Hwy, at gantry in median part.

nobodycaresbut Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thermal canera has been installed I495 inner loop
> just before Lee Hwy, at gantry in median part.

Better add another layer of foil so they don't get more of your brain waves.

zero personality Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "I've been running back and forth from Alexandria
> to Reston everyday since the lanes opened in
> November, Monday-Friday by myself and have NEVER
> gotten a ticket."
> You seem a bit proud and a little smug that you're
> breaking the law and seemingly getting away with
> it. What other really cool stuff do you do that
> you just can't wait to brag about...cheat on your
> taxes, shoplift, kill someone? Gee, maybe your
> mailbox has a Good Citizenship Award instead of a
> bunch of tickets, huh?!

But you don’t understand. The rules don’t apply to this asshole; he’s much more important than the rest of us. He also cuts in line, makes old ladies stand on the Metro, and takes up two parking spaces to protect his 1998 BMW.

There've been thermal cameras up near Newington for about a year now on 395. I've scored easily 50 trips past them solo in HOV mode and haven't gotten a ticket so they clearly aren't turned on or don't work for shit.

Law Breaker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There've been thermal cameras up near Newington
> for about a year now on 395. I've scored easily 50
> trips past them solo in HOV mode and haven't
> gotten a ticket so they clearly aren't turned on
> or don't work for shit.


I made 500,000 trips last week and no ticket. Couple times I was even the only person on a 3 seat bicycle and no ticket. Why do you dip shits pay to use the express lanes?