Partly cloudy this evening then becoming windy with rain developing after midnight. Low near 60F. S winds at 10 to 15 mph, increasing to 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..
Partly cloudy this evening then becoming windy with rain developing after midnight. Low near 60F. S winds at 10 to 15 mph, increasing to 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Updated: November 4, 2025 @ 5:32 pm
A FasTrak express lane and sign on Highway 101.
The express lanes on Highway 101 have seen modest increases in use from the prior year, generating 20% more revenue and slightly more trips costing $12 or more.
The current express lanes, which opened over two years ago, stretches 22 miles on Highway 101 from the Santa Clara County line to Interstate 380. During fiscal year 2025 — which ended in June — there were 15 million express lane trips, with 59,341 average daily trips, a 6% increase from the previous fiscal year.
The trips generated about $35 million in revenue last fiscal year, a 22% increase from the year prior.
“At the same time we do have expenses going up but that’s only at 10%,”said Lacy Vong, policy program manager for the San Mateo County Express Lanes Joint Powers Authority.
The express lane data also showed that drivers in both northbound and southbound lanes are reaping the benefits, with speeds between 11 to 12 mph greater than non-express lanes, though a higher share of trips are more expensive, Vong said.
“There's still capacity, but we now see a change where the majority of trips are still under $3, but that is a difference that is down by about 8.2% from what we see the previous years,” Vong said. “We are seeing more trips that are above the $12 mark, but that's still a fairly low percentage of the total trips we’re seeing.”
The data is especially critical as the San Mateo County Transportation Authority has started conducting research on expanding the project north of Interstate 380, either by converting an existing lane into an express lane or constructing a brand-new one. But the project has been controversial almost since the beginning. Transit advocates and some elected officials have expressed concern that the TA will not have the data to determine whether the current express lanes have improved congestion — one of the primary goals the agency touted for the project. In fact, some have suggested congestion has only increased, particularly for those in the nonexpress lanes.
Jackie Speier, TA board member and San Mateo County supervisor, said in a board meeting several months ago that she was concerned about the county spending millions of dollars on the early stages of the project.
The initiative is in the environmental and preliminary design phase, a multiyear effort that is expected to be completed by the middle or end of 2026.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
Daily Journal staff
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Much Ado About Nothing: A Modern Verse Translation, tells the timeless and hilarious story o… Read moreMills High School Much Ado About Nothing: A Modern Translation
Join us to meet Simi Monheit, the author of The Goldie Standard, and the 2024 Winner of the … Read moreMeet the Award-Winning Author of The Goldie Standard
Dirk van Ulden said:
Dirk van Ulden said:
Come on easygerd. Trump was corrected by his own Energy Secretary the following day. The left media left that out of course.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(5) comments
The three groups that benefit the most from the Lexus Lanes:
- rideshare companies - they just keep the tracker on "3" all day long.
- Tech Company Shuttles - now they certainly won't use Caltrain anymore.
- Tech Company executives - Companies can write this off, lowering income and income taxes.
So income tax - which would benefit general fund projects - gets transformed into toll lane revenue which can be used for more highway widening. It's another pyramid scheme to pay for car infrastructure they couldn't afford otherwise.
And yes, because it's mostly paid by debt - it's of course the general public that pays to mostly benefit the Tech Bros Shuttles.
The Samaritan House got a share as well, so they wouldn't complain anymore about the lower-income areas eating all that extra pollution now. Equity-Astroturfing!
The question remains whether the revenues exceed the debt service on these lanes. Cars going by at high rates of speed just pollute more, so what is the result sin the end? More money for yet another organization with expensively compensated bean counters?
What is a trip? One enters at one reader and out next exit. One trip? Or one goes past three readers and out the third exit. Is that three trips or one. Sure the speed is greater in toll lane. As they reduced four lanes to three where people could use fourth lane as car pool with two people now have to pay. Less people want to pay.
In implementing this project, the County made two decisions: 1) to install Express Lanes; and 2) to widen the highway. This article and previous reports from the County only address the first decision. When will we see data on whether the widening of the highway, at additional cost to taxpayers, was a solid investment? What has been the impact on air pollution for the residents living adjacent to the highway? What has been the impact on congestion and danger on roads adjacent to the highway?
Is the Express Lane benefit (higher speeds) due to speeds in the non-Express Lanes decreasing? If so, this would run counter to the intent of the project.
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.