Posted by nancy s., a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Mar 20, 2012 at 11:30 am

Thank you for correcting the title...I was wondering who I had to "feel" to try out the new lane.

Posted by AM ??, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Mar 20, 2012 at 4:45 pm

Surely you mean 5 AM to 9 A M ? ?

Posted by marym, a resident of the Vineyard Hills neighborhood, on Mar 20, 2012 at 7:00 pm

The express lane on I-680 south is a toll road from 5am to 8pm, so I would expect that this one would be similar.

Posted by Anon, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Mar 22, 2012 at 9:53 am

The HOV lanes leading up to and out of the Express Lane section are 5a-9a. The express lane itself though is 5a through 10am.

The 680 lane is different at 5a-8p as noted.

Posted by Dan, a resident of the Bridle Creek neighborhood, on Mar 23, 2012 at 7:22 am

Got tired of my hour+ commute and purchased a fast pass Wednesday. My commute into work on Thursday dropped to 43 minutes.

Worth. Every. Penny.

Dan

Posted by Vanessa, a resident of the Pleasanton Meadows neighborhood, on Mar 23, 2012 at 12:34 pm

@Dan, boy do I agree with you!!!!! My commute also has dropped a good 15 minutes. I could not wait for the express lane to open. Truly worth it!!!!

Posted by Dan, a resident of the Bridle Creek neighborhood, on Mar 23, 2012 at 1:00 pm

Vanessa,

It was 38 minutes today and I didn't use the 680 toll lane.

Wow! What a breath of fresh air.

The only downside is, as I work in Mountain View, they could have moved the toll lane going east a little further west so I could get on earlier. FP doesn't really save me any time going home.

I hope they change it.

Dan

Posted by Steve, a resident of the Stoneridge neighborhood, on Mar 23, 2012 at 1:13 pm

So Dan and Vanessa are willing to pay $12 each way for saving 20 minutes? (That's $6 to Scott Creek, and likely $6 to Great America)

I thought the express lane was supposed to ease traffic. All it has done is provide access to the car pool lane for a price. Why do we have car pool lanes again? Isn't it for encouraging people to carpool? Is that still the goal?

Does the express lane just allow wealthy progressives to feel good about encouraging car pooling without having to do it themselves?

Posted by Dan, a resident of the Bridle Creek neighborhood, on Mar 23, 2012 at 2:06 pm

Steve,

I am middle class (by CA standards), conservative, and have paid a grand total of $8.50 based on 1 RT and 1 one-way commute in the last 2 days.

So, well, you've struck out on those points.

And no, silly, the express lane was designed to wring every bit of revenue out of self-admitted suckers like me, who naively think that spending more quality time at home or work is worth the additional expense. They only TELL you that its to ease traffic, when in fact IT NEVER DOES. Notice that?

I'm am being slightly theatrical and sarcastic with the above paragraph.

My time savings have been ~50 minutes but I only have 2 data points so far.

Given the numbers, I think it'll cost me $25 a week on average and save me 2.5 hours. That rolls up to ~$1250 and 125 hours(3 weeks) a year.

More time with my family? I'll take that.

Dan

Posted by Kathleen Ruegseggerr, a resident of the Vintage Hills Elementary School neighborhood, on Mar 23, 2012 at 2:08 pm

Shorter drive times, less pollution? Car pooling isn't a fit for everyone. I would have loved a reasonable alternative to getting across the Bay.