On March 8, VTA, in partnership with Caltrans, will kick off construction for Phase 3 of the Silicon Valley Express Lanes Project with a groundbreaking event.

This phase will finally introduce express lanes to the US 101 corridor by converting existing double carpool lanes near State Route (SR) 237 in Sunnyvale to the San Mateo County line. The carpool connector ramp at State Route 85 will also be converted to express lanes, providing seamless connections to San Mateo’s Express Lanes Project also getting underway. This project will pick up at the Santa Clara County line in Palo Alto and continue north to I-380 in San Bruno.

Friday’s event will celebrate this two-project, one-corridor facility with the likes of Senator Jim Beall and others who played a key role in securing the funding to take this next big step towards the 550-mile express lanes network envisioned for the Bay Area.

History of Silicon Valley Express Lanes

In March 2012, VTA began operating the first phase of express lanes in Santa Clara County at the I880/SR237 interchange in Milpitas. Since that time, these facilities have become more widely adopted throughout the Bay Area and so has the use of technology to make these lanes more efficient.

Express lanes aim to increase the efficiency of the existing roadway by allowing solo-drivers to take advantage of the available capacity in existing carpool lanes. In the last quarter of 2018, VTA express lanes served approximately 732,500 vehicles, where nearly 14% of users were single drivers opting to pay the toll. These express lanes have saved carpoolers and solo drivers, for a fee, up to 14 minutes when the general purpose lanes are backed up.

In March 2018, VTA broke ground on Phase 2 of express lanes, an extension from the end of the current SR 237 express lanes to near Mathilda Avenue. Currently under construction, this extension is scheduled to open around fall 2019. Phase 3 express lanes are expected to open in summer 2021.

New Lanes, New Rules

There will be new rules in effect for express lane users in Santa Clara County beginning with the opening of the Phase 2 extension. These rules, which will also apply to Phase 3 operations, will make VTA’s facilities more consistent with other express lanes in the Bay Area region and include:

• Everyone in the express lanes will be required to use a FasTrak® transponder (often referred to as a “tag”). This requirement applies to all eligible users: carpoolers, toll paying solo drivers, clean air vehicles (CAVs), motorcycles and buses.
• Express lanes hours of operation will likely be extended from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., pending Caltrans approval, aligning with the three other express lane facilities operating under these hours.
• A video enforcement system will be implemented, which will allow FasTrak to catch cheaters using license plate reader technology, similar to the technology in use on Bay Area bridges.
• Solo drivers in clean air vehicles will pay a discounted toll. In Silicon Valley, the increased popularity of CAVs (that are predominantly single-occupant vehicles) has resulted in challenges to maintain travel speed requirements. VTA recently approved a toll ordinance that will allow VTA to offer solo-driving CAVs a 50 percent discount to use express lanes. CAVs who meet the occupancy requirement will always be toll-free.

For up to date information about Silicon Valley Express Lanes, visit our 237 Express Lane construction page or visit Bay Area Express Lanes to learn more about the big picture.