Signed by Governor Chris Gregoire

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to concur with Senate amendments and pass a bill that authorizes the creation of a high-occupancy toll lane on Interstate 405 and Interstate 5.

Highlights:

• Defines "express toll lanes" as "one or more high occupancy vehicle lanes of a highway in which the department charges tolls primarily as a means of regulating access to or use of the lanes to maintain travel speed and reliability" (Sec. 2).

• Exempts transit busses and vanpools from being tolled (Sec. 3).

• Specifies that when there are two toll lanes headed in opposite directions, both must have the same rate (Sec. 3).

• Specifies that the toll rate must be set by the toll authority and that those toll rates will differ in areas such as traffic congestion, time of day, etc. (Sec. 3).

• Specifies that all funds made by the toll system will be deposited into the Interstate 405 express toll lanes operations account (Sec. 5).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes the creation of a high-occupancy toll lane on Interstate 405 and Interstate 5.

Highlights:

• Defines "express toll lanes" as "one or more high occupancy vehicle lanes of a highway in which the department charges tolls primarily as a means of regulating access to or use of the lanes to maintain travel speed and reliability" (Sec. 2).

• Exempts transit busses and vanpools from being tolled (Sec. 3).

• Specifies that when there are two toll lanes headed in opposite directions, both must have the same rate (Sec. 3).

• Specifies that the toll rate must be set by the toll authority and that those toll rates will differ in areas such as traffic congestion, time of day, etc. (Sec. 3).

• Specifies that all funds made by the toll system will be deposited into the Interstate 405 express toll lanes operations account (Sec. 5).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes the establishment of express toll lanes on Interstate 405.

Highlights:

• Authorizes the imposition of tolls on Interstate 405 between the junctions with Interstate 5 on the north end and with NE 6th Street in Bellevue on the south end (Sec. 3).

• Exempts transit buses and vanpools from tolls (Sec. 3).

Full Bill Text