Roadside cameras can tell if someone is driving without 3 passengers in the Express Lane

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (ABC7) — New technology on some Express Lanes will be able to not only track carpool trips, but it will also be able to tell if a driver is misusing HOV.

Drivers using the E-ZPass Flex set to HOV ON are supposed to drive with at least three passengers. This technology hopes to deter people from misusing this feature.

Road-side camera technology will be able to identify cars with the E-XPass Flex with the HOV ON option to make sure there are the three required passengers in the car. If the driver does not have the required number of passengers, the driver can later be charged on their E-ZPass Flex account. The HOV rules apply on the 495/95/395 Express Lanes.

“Toll prices and traffic on the Express Lanes are correlated, so HOV violations are fundamentally unfair to customers who are paying their toll,” said Emeka Moneme, vice president of corporate strategy and innovation, Transurban North America. “We are leveraging technology to educate customers who make mistakes while ensuring all drivers follow the rules of the road.”

When a driver incorrectly uses the E-ZPass Flex HOV ON option, they will be notified via email letting them know of the misuse and educating them on the proper use. If the driver does it again, the driver will be charged for the toll on the trip.

Driving in the Express lanes with less than three people in the car with the HOV ON option on your E-ZPass is against the law. Violators can be fined up to $1,000 if pulled over by law enforcement and could be subject to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles' demerit points.

Click here for more information about E-ZPass Flex accounts.

John Townsend II, a manager and spokesperson for AAA, released the following statement in terms of the new roadside cameras:

Good afternoon.

The AAA National Public Affairs Office forwarded your question to the attention of the AAA Mid-Atlantic Public and Government Affairs staff in Washington, D.C.

Usually, toll lane cheating drops over a period of time, due in part to enforcement crackdowns and to the certitude of being caught red-handed.

Issues of privacy always loom large in Virginia. Privacy advocacy groups will question whether the camera technology violates Virginia privacy law.

This comes on the heels of a recent ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court that police departments across the state can operate license plate surveillance programs.

Now new camera technology deployed along the Express Lanes in Northern Virginia is cracking toll scofflaws and Express Lane cheaters. The cameras will safely identify solo drivers, cheaters, and violators and deter drivers from evading tolls.

No doubt, privacy advocates will have concerns about what they deem as government surveillance of private vehicles on Express Lanes.

All Express Lanes customers must travel with an E-ZPass at all times. The technology is designed to reduce Express Lane cheating.

Customers must set their E-ZPass Flex to either HOV mode or Toll mode prior to entering the Express Lanes. Cars with three persons can use the Express Lanes for free as high-occupancy vehicles with the E-ZPass Flex set on the HOV mode

However, some drivers are violating the Express Lane rules.

Previously, to determine if a driver is paying tolls, law enforcement officers, Virginia State Police (VSP) and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), used EZ pass readers, which can tell if an E-ZPass Flex is in toll mode or HOV mode.

A fourth ticket within five years for E-Zpass or missed toll payment on the Express Lanes in Northern Virginia and carries a $1,000 fine.

Any driver using an Express Lanes on Interstates 95, 395 and the Capital Beltway in Northern Virginia and any other toll road in Virginia is expected to pay the toll for that roadway.

Interestingly, “congestion-priced Express Lanes have seen the greatest impact among tolled facilities during the pandemic, notes SmartBrief. “Express lanes charge based on a dynamic pricing system. This means that the amount drivers pay for using the express lanes is based on time of day, how far they travel and how many other cars are on the road.”

It remains to be seen if privacy concerns mount with the deployment of the camera technology in the wake of the recent Virginia Supreme Court decision that overturned the lower court’s decision that held license plate readers violated state privacy laws.

“Virginia’s Express Lane tolls hit lows of less than $2 on average on the Interstate 495 lanes in early April when traffic was down by 80%. Before the pandemic, Transurban was collecting an average of $9.32 for drivers using the I-95 Express Lanes and $5.67 on I-495,” reports SmartBrief.

“During the first two weeks of June, average daily traffic on I-95 and I-495 was between 50% to 60% lower than it was during the same time last year,” SmartBrief reports. “In the first week of June, the average cost to use the Interstate 95 Express Lanes was $6 and just under $2.40 on the I-495 Express Lanes, roughly half what it cost during the first week of March.”

“Caltrans, which manages California highways, estimated as many as 39% of the cars in the carpool lane may be cheating,” according to news reports.

Motorists and scofflaws beware: misusing E-ZPass Flex on the express lanes is against the law. If caught by the new camera technology, or if stopped by law enforcement, a violator can be fined up to $1,000 and subject to traffic violation points added to his or her driving record.

As always, some will wonder if the camera technology serves legitimate law enforcement purposes.

If you travel on Express Lanes without an E-ZPass you will receive a violation notice unless you go to that particular facility's website and make a missed toll payment within a certain number of days of the transaction before the invoice is issued.

“In some states, chronic toll cheats can face license and registration suspensions,” according to media reports.

Thanks.