What to know as $15 maximum tolls begin on I-405 and Highway 167 in WA

Traffic Lab is a Seattle Times project that digs into the region’s transportation issues to explore the policies and politics that determine how we get around and how billions of dollars in public money are spent.

Rush-hour commuters might want to look up more often while driving on I-405 and Highway 167 starting Friday morning, when the highest possible charge to use the express-toll lanes increases to $15 a trip.

Express toll lanes, on the left side, extend between Bothell and Bellevue on I-405, where the top rate has been $10 since the 2015 startup, and between Auburn and Renton on Highway 167, now topping out at $9 during the most severe congestion. The Renton-to-Bellevue segment of I-405 is being widened, to result in two free lanes and two tolled lanes each way by mid-2025.

These lanes allow drivers to buy their way out of stop-and-go traffic by paying a toll that fluctuates every few minutes, between $1 and $15, beginning Friday. Vehicles without a state Good to Go! transponder are billed by mail for an extra $2 service charge.

The toll increase is meant to provide a faster and more reliable trip. Rates surpassing $10 would dissuade some motorists from entering, so the remaining cars (and transit buses) can flow 45 mph in tolled lanes.

Express-toll traffic at crowded periods currently averages about 20 mph more than the general lanes but consistently misses the 45 mph standard, especially in Bothell.

A secondary goal is to raise funds to build more toll lanes and exit-only lanes. However, most of the state’s $2.5 billion menu of projects along the 405/167 corridor will be financed by gas taxes, driver or vehicle fees, or other subsidies such as federal infrastructure grants.

The Washington State Department of Transportation is often accused of building “Lexus Lanes” for affluent drivers. State research found richer people do take more tolled trips, while people with lower incomes enter the lanes on rare and desperate occasions, like a day care deadline or job interview — typically when tolls approach $10 in heavy traffic.

Drivers who can’t afford to pay tolls frequently are at risk of spending more time in the clogged general lanes throughout the year.

Toll lanes will remain free weeknights from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., and on weekends for I-405. Carpools must contain at least three people, with a Good to Go! Flex Pass, to use I-405 toll lanes for free weekdays between 5 a.m. and 8 p.m., and at least two people to do so on Highway 167 every day from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Some of WSDOT’s electronic signs over the affected freeways are reminding drivers that toll changes begin March 1.

Friday’s changes do not affect Highway 520, the Highway 99 tunnel or the Tacoma Narrows bridges, where all lanes are tolled.

For more information, check the Washington State Transportation Commission’s tolling page. Also, the WSDOT website has toll pass information.