I-405 Express Lanes’ First Anniversary: “More Popular Than We Were Planning.”

The Herald (Everett, WA) marks today’s one-year anniversary of the I-405 Express, noting, “More than 1 million people have made 12 million trips in the express toll lanes.” The report adds, “A year ago, the state was planning to break even on operations costs. Now, even after switching to ‘open to all’ hours on nights and weekends, the one-year forecast pins revenue at $20 million. ‘The lanes were more popular than we were planning,’ said Tyler Patterson, operations manager with the Washington State Department of Transportation.”

The Herald also posts some of the responses to its reader survey on I-405 Express, including one from a man who writes, “I love the toll lanes. I fly by the idiots who are trying to save 75 cents while wasting who knows how much time. I think the tolls should be rolled out to all the freeways around here, especially on 522 between Monroe and Bothell.”