Smooth drive for HOT lane debut

There were the drivers who veered into the car-pool lanes on Highway 167, looking for the toll booth.

And there were those legitimate car-poolers who didn't think the solid double-striped white lines barring entrance to the car-pool lanes applied to them.

But overall, workday No. 1 of the HOT lane (high-occupancy toll) debut went smoothly, said officials with the state Department of Transportation and the State Patrol. The lanes opened Saturday.

The new lanes, between Renton and Auburn, lets solo drivers who pay a variable toll into the car-pool lane. Buses and car pools of two or more occupants can continue to use the HOT lanes for free.

Between 5 and 10 a.m. Monday, 339 solo drivers paid to enter the northbound lane, in fairly light traffic, said Craig Stone, urban-corridors administrator for the state Department of Transportation. Just 29 drivers used the southbound HOT lane.

The tolls, which increase as traffic worsens, reached $2.25 at 7:15 a.m. northbound at 277th Street, but Stone said no one paid that rate to use the HOT lanes. The most anyone paid, he said, was $2. The minimum toll was 50 cents, while the average paid was $1.04.

Tolls are expected to hit $5 at busy times, and can climb as high as $9. If it gets to that point, the lane is considered full and will switch back to an HOV-only lane, with new solo drivers not allowed.

There are 12 HOT-lane miles northbound on the highway and eight southbound, marked with double white lines. Drivers can move in and out of the lane only when the lines are dotted.

Stone said about 10 percent of the Highway 167 drivers used the HOT lanes and saved an average of five minutes. The savings peaked at 16 minutes about 7 a.m.

The HOT lane is supposed to have room for about 600 solo drivers in the busiest hour, but demand is nowhere near that high.

"Being a new system, people are waiting and seeing, and not jumping to buy in," said Patty Rubstello, project manager for the DOT.

About 9,600 motorists signed up in advance with a prepaid account. A transponder in the car makes automatic deductions, like a debit card.

Stone said there were even some drivers Monday morning with activated transponders who were legitimate car-poolers. They could have put a shield over the transponder so it wouldn't cost them anything.

Trooper Curt Boyle of the State Patrol said there were "numerous tickets issued" Monday morning for violators driving in HOT lanes. The fine is $124. He didn't know how many citations were issued, but said he wrote two himself.

"The two people didn't have an excuse," he said. "They knew what they did, trying to get around traffic. It wasn't a question of confusion."

Federal Highway Administrator James Ray, who is backing HOT-lane projects nationwide, said the inaugural day went well. The federal government contributed $5 million toward the state's $18 million startup costs.

Ray said tolls make full use of car-pool lanes that are running below capacity. Federal programs give the states leeway over how to manage the lanes to promote mobility, transit use and revenues, he said.

Times transportation reporter Mike Lindblom contributed to this report.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com