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FasTrak in Milpitas

237 Express Lanes

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FasTrak and COVID-19 – FAQs

What should drivers do? To drive in the FasTrak lane or not?

Cash is not being collected at Bay Area bridges due to COVID-19. Use FasTrak to pay your toll. If you do not have FasTrak, you will receive a bill in the mail for the amount of your toll. It is called a violation, but there are no penalties – just pay the toll by mail with a check or online. If you have FasTrak, this change does not apply to you.

The I-680 Sunol Express Lanes are designated lanes that can be used during heavy traffic to bypass congestion. Express lanes are usually located on the far-left side of select major freeway corridors (described below) and are indicated with white descriptive text on the pavement and electronic signage above the roadway.

How the heck do I drive along SR-237 now with the new FasTrak lane?

How to Order a Transponder and Use the SR 237 Express Lanes

Step 1: Order your transponder
Step 2: Set up your account
Step 3: Mount your transponder. Transponder mounting help.
Step 4: Use the Express lanes

About Express Lanes

An Express Lane is a portion of a High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane, also known as a carpool or diamond lane, that has been converted to a toll lane in order to better manage congestion. VTA monitors its Express Lanes to maintain a minimum speed of 45 mph, based on federal requirement.

Express lanes are marked by large overhead signage, and smaller signs located in the median. The toll amount is posted on a changeable board within the large overhead sign.

VTA currently operates Express Lanes on State Route 237. Learn more about the planning and history of VTA’s Silicon Valley Express Lanes Program and the 237 Express Lanes project page.

How can I enter the FasTrak lane coming from Milpitas?

237 Express Lanes

  • Entering from Calaveras Blvd. westbound on SR237 will be a real pain, just as currently. You will not be able to get into the FasTrak lane until just slightly after Zanker, and it ends just before Lawrence. About half your commute will still be in heavy traffic. To avoid the congestion, you might try…
  • Drive north on Milpitas Blvd. to Dixon Landing Rd, and get on 880 south. Get in the HOV lane there as it swings over and onto 237.
  • Take Tasman. Turn right at Zanker. Enter 237 to right just after 237 overpass. Also good strategy for those heading north on 880 wishing to go west on 237.
  • Going eastbound on SR 237, there are double white lines west of Zanker Road prior to the 237-880 connector. Express lanes traffic wanting to access I-880 South, McCarthy Boulevard, or Calaveras Boulevard will have to exit the lane at Zanker Road.

FAQs about FasTrak

  • Questions about FasTrak? The FasTrak team is here to help! If you can’t find the information you’re looking for below, please contact us. Our Customer Service team wants you to get the most out of your FasTrak account.
  • FasTrak toll tags are also available to order online.

What hours and days is the Express Lanes operational?

  • SR 237 Express Lanes will now operate from 5:00 am – 8:00 pm weekdays, which is consistent with all other Bay Area Express Lane facilities. At all other times, the lane will be available to regular traffic.
  • Weekends everyone may drive in any lane they want to, with any number of people. FasTrak will not be in force.

What if I have a qualified clean air vehicle?

  • Clean air vehicles (CAVs) with valid clean air vehicle decals can travel toll free or at a discounted rate on Bay Area express lanes and state-owned bridges. In order to receive the correct discount, eligible clean air vehicles should use a FasTrak Flex or FasTrak CAV toll tag.
  • On 237, solo drivers in eligible CAVs will receive a 50% discount off the toll if they use a FasTrak CAV toll tag. The FasTrak CAV toll tag is the only transponder that will communicate the discounted toll rate to roadside toll equipment. Clean air vehicles with two or more people can travel toll free as a carpool, but must use a FasTrak Flex or FasTrak CAV toll tag.

Is it charging me each time it beeps?

  • No. It detects when you enter and leave the lane, and so charges you for total time spent in the FasTrak lane.

How do I know how much I am being charged?

  • Express lanes are free for qualifying carpoolers, vanpool, buses, and other toll-exempt vehicles.
  • For solo drivers with a FasTrak toll tag, the prices to drive to specific destinations will be posted on signs above the the express lane. The toll on VTA’s State Route 237 Express Lanes varies dynamically based on congestion. Minimum will be $0.30 and the maximum will be $8.00.
  • The actual toll deducted from your FasTrak deposit will depend on the total distance you travel in the express lane.
  • Tolls for solo drivers increase with congestion, and decrease with light traffic. But here is an example: the average toll paid by solo drivers in the I-680 Express Lane from Pleasanton to Milpitas in the morning commute period for January 2015 was $3.11, an average of $0.22 per mile over the 14 mile express lane length.

How do they know how many people I really have in my car?

  • Video cameras on the sign posts
  • Vigilant police
  • Setting you make on your tag for 1, 2, or 3+ people. Motorcyclists should leave their setting at 3+.

If I accidentally drive in the FasTrak lane without a transponder what happens?

  • You will get a bill based on your license plate registration. The price is listed on the overhead signs.

Bay Area FasTrak Facebook Page
This is the official Facebook page of Bay Area FasTrak. FasTrak is an electronic toll collection (ETC) system that allows you to prepay your tolls at all Bay Area toll bridges, eliminating the need to stop at the toll plaza. The system has three components: a toll tag, which is placed inside your vehicle; an overhead antenna, which reads the toll tag and collects the toll; and video cameras to identify toll evaders.hicles per hour than a cash lane.

As you pass through a toll lane, the toll tag is read, and your tolls are deducted from your prepaid toll balance. When you reach your replenishment threshold, your account is replenished automatically, if you opened your account with a credit card. If you opened your account as a cash/check account, then you are responsible for replenishing your account by making regular payments.

The FasTrak system tracks your usage and account balance. A monthly or quarterly statement itemizing your bridge use and account balance will be sent to you through the mail or emailed to you.

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