Report: I-405 tolls making traffic worse in general purpose lanes

A new report by the Kirkland traffic data company INRIX says express toll lanes on Interstate 405 are making traffic worse for drivers in the general purpose lanes.

The report compares vehicle speeds from October 2014 with speeds from October 2015, the month after express toll lanes were introduced.

Click here to download report 

INRIX found there is a benefit to drivers taking the express toll lanes, which are free during peak hours to drivers with at least two passengers or to drivers willing to pay a toll, which can range from 75 cents to $10, depending on congestion..

"Traffic has actually gotten worse on the corridor for the vast majority of people," said Bryan Mistele, INRIX President and CEO.

Mistele said travel times for most drivers are now 15 to 20 minutes worse.

Inrix says drivers taking the toll lanes save 10 to 15 minutes southbound, with no change northbound.

"If our goal was to reduce traffic congestion by adding capacity, we failed, because traffic congestion for most people has gotten worse," Mistele said.

Officials at WSDOT's toll division say "INRIX's data sample is very small to reflect any comprehensive insight about I-405 performance where express toll lanes have been implemented."

In his analysis of the INRIX report, Mark Hallenbeck, a transportation researcher at the University of Washington, wrote "the data Inrix presented are not bad. Rather, they tell only a portion of the story."

"The Inrix analysis used data from a limited number of locations (four) and produced a biased review of the performance of the corridor. Given the data resources that Inrix has at its disposal, one must wonder why the paper does not present a full review of the performance of the corridor," Hallenbeck wrote.

INRIX said it included representative samples in its report, and is making its complete raw data available for review.

On Tuesday, KIRO 7 News reported that the toll lanes are making much more money than expected.

Between the Sept. 27 grand opening and the end of 2015, toll payers spent $3.7 million, compared with the $1 million predicted, in the corridor between Lynnwood and Bellevue. Follow this link to read details.

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Cox Media Group