For people in the Washington area hoping to head out to see family for the holidays, there’s usually one major roadblock standing in their way — other drivers.
However, the area’s notorious highway traffic might be a little less severe this Christmas, after Maryland opens its new express toll lanes on the stretch of I-95 north of Baltimore.
According to a December 3 Washington Post article, the express toll lanes will be eight miles long and stand to benefit those living in Baltimore’s suburbs the most. The lanes could also be a boon to those driving northward out of the nation’s capital.
In addition to offering drivers a cash-free way to pay highway tolls, the new lanes will also ease traffic — and when 16 million new and used cars are bought each year, there’s always a need for ways to prevent traffic jams in major population centers like the capital region.
The Washington Post reports that Maryland’s I-95 lanes will charge drivers according to a system known as variable tolling — drivers will be charged more during peak traffic hours, and less during off-peak times. Unlike Virginia’s high-occupancy toll lanes, these lanes won’t charge drivers based on traffic at that given moment.
For a driver during peak hours, the toll to use the express toll lanes will be $1.75 if they use an E-ZPass to pay the toll. If they don’t have an E-ZPass, they will have to pay through a process of video tolling, in which a photo of the driver’s license plate is taken so the bill can be sent to the address on file. Video tolling will cost a driver $2.75.
According to the Washington Post, drivers will be able to use the express toll lanes for free for the first week. At 12:01 a.m. on December 13, the tolling will begin.
So if you live in the capital region, it might be a little bit easier for you to make it home for the holidays this year.