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VDOT Rolls Out E-ZPass Flex Devices For New HOV Lanes

By: Martin Di Caro and Rebecca Cooper // July 25, 2012
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The new E-ZPass Flex transponder will allow drivers to switch into non-paying mode when they are carpooling in the Express lanes during rush hours. 
Martin Di Caro
The new E-ZPass Flex transponder will allow drivers to switch into non-paying mode when they are carpooling in the Express lanes during rush hours. 

Ready to flex that E-ZPass? Commuters who want to use the new Capital Beltway express lanes will have to, according to Virginia transportation officials and the operators of the new lanes.

The lanes, which run down the middle of the Capital Beltway in Virginia from the Dulles Toll Road (Route 267) exit to the I-395/495/95 interchange known as the "mixing bowl," will be free to vehicles carrying three people or more during rush hours — if they have the new E-ZPass Flex device.

The lanes are expected to open by the end of the year. When they do, drivers will qualify to carpool if there are at least three people in a car — but they'll need the new E-ZPass Flex device first. (The flex version of the E-ZPass will also cost customers $1 per month under a new state fee structure, but that's another story.) 

Although it's new for commuters and officials alike, the new transponder is easy to use, according to Virginia Department of Transportation Chief Deputy Commissioner Charlie Kilpatrick.

"A switch on the transponder goes from non-HOV toll paying mode, with a beep and a throw of the switch, to the HOV mode and non-toll paying," Kilpatrick said while demonstrating the new device at a press conference Wednesday. 

The police will be equipped with technology to catch toll cheats in these all-electronic toll lanes.

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