MYNorthwest.com reports, “The state’s social experiment with congestion pricing on I-405 is one year old” and adds, “From the state’s perspective, the launch really couldn’t have gone much better. Other than creating a daily nightmare in the northbound direction in Bothell, where we go from five lanes to three, state tolling director Patty Rubstello is happy with the results. ‘We’re seeing high utilization,’ she said. ‘[Commuters] are getting a benefit, and in most situations the general purpose lanes are working better as well.’”
KIRO News reports that the high usage of the I-405 Express Lanes might force the toll rate above the current ceiling of ten dollars, but notes that “WSDOT also says they are looking into a number of options to improve operations on the I-405 toll lanes without a rate increase.”