![]() Traffic statewide has returned to 85% of its volume before COVID, Tomlinson explained. But trips have steadily increased since then and are at about 60% of the pre-pandemic levels, Tomlinson said. “Those declines continued and we hit an all-time low of about 82% reduction in trips in the lanes,” Tomlinson told the AJC and 95.5 WSB on the latest WSB Traffic Podcast. The pandemic-caused traffic pattern changes certainly took a bite out of their success, with usage in March 2020 dipping to 50% of what it once was statewide. SRTA Executive Director Chris Tomlinson, the Deputy Director when the lanes debuted, said that I-85 Peach Pass usage increased over four-fold since 2011 and before COVID-19. But traffic in the HOT lanes generally moves better, which has required an increasing price over the years, pre-COVID. The traffic real estate on I-85 remained the same, however, between Highway 317 (Exit 111) and Shallowford Road (Exit 94), so traffic on that part of I-85 did not really improve after the HOT lanes converted. The I-85 HOT lanes in Gwinnett, expanded up to Hamilton Mill (Exit 120) in November of 2018, but those were in connection with widening the freeway. Pricing in any of these lanes is based upon demand and with the idea of keeping traffic in them moving faster and more predictably than the regular lanes. SRTA and GDOT reverse those lanes mid-morning and late-night for the forthcoming rush hour traffic flow and also in prediction of weekend, holiday, and special event patterns. These opened the day after Labor Day in 2018. They operate with the same rules as the south side lanes and, too, are built separately, as added capacity along their freeways. ![]() I-575 sees a single, reversible lane between the I-75 interchange and Sixes Road (Exit 11). The I-75 and I-575 lanes, or the Northwest Metro Express Lanes, run from just inside I-285 (Exit 259) to just north of Wade Green Road (Exit 273) on I-75, reversible, and in a double-lane formation. And those driving illegally in them eventually got citations sent in the mail, based upon license plate pictures. Drivers are charged by the segments they travel and are only allowed to enter and exit the lanes at certain spots. Sensors and cameras along I-85 on that stretch scan vehicles’ Peach Passes (barcoded transmitter stickers stuck up under rearview mirrors) and debit the money for the trips in the lanes. There was quite an outcry the autumn morning of the lanes being converted, since free lanes already paid for by taxes were now under the State Road and Tollway Authority’s (SRTA) domain. But the High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes require three or more in a vehicle to be used for free and those drivers have to set their “toll mode” to “3+.” Those lanes still exist on several Atlanta freeways. The HOV lanes on I-85 in Gwinnett, cost-free until October of 2011, allowed people with two or more people to use them and also allowed motorcycles, buses, and alternative fuel vehicles. ![]() ![]() Just two years before the quarters stopped clanking in the toll booth, the cashless Peach Pass lanes debuted on I-85 between Suwanee and Chamblee. Most folks don’t even remember what year that was either. Well, unless we’re talking about the old GA-400 Toll Plaza coming down (that was November of 2013). Normal people don’t keep track of infrastructure anniversaries, especially those that charge tolls. The calendar hasn’t quite struck 10 years since the I-85 HOV lanes in Gwinnett county turned into variably-priced toll lanes.
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