<aside> đź’ˇ What I experienced using Metro ExpressLanes and FasTrak transponders, something on electronic tolling technologies, and how things are implemented in California.
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Update: This article may contain outdated information. As of Sept. 2024, Metro seems to have finally (or at least planned to) upgraded to 6C transponders, and is instructing customers who have received new transponders to dispose the old ones.
2 generations of transponders side by side. Source: Metro Expresslanes
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Whenever I drove on the I-10 and I-110 freeways, there were these lanes in the middle that looks like normal carpool lanes, but signs tell you that you can’t merge into those lanes unless you have FasTrak.
Before driving onto the I-10 eastbound ExpressLane ramp from Del Mar Ave, there are at least 4 separate signs telling you it’s FasTrak only.
Curious as I am, I wanted to find out what this is and how things work.
**Metro ExpressLanes** used to be the a conventional carpool lane (High Occupancy Vehicle/HOV lanes): only cars with 2+ (or 3+ on I-10) persons can access it.
With construction on the I-110 started in 2011 and opened in 2012, Metro, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, turns HOV lanes into High Occupancy Toll/HOT lanes, allowing solo driver to drive on these lanes for a dynamically priced toll. ExpressLanes on the I-10 also opened in 2013.
But there is a catch. In order to collect tolls from vehicles not meeting the occupancy requirements, everyone has to mount a FasTrak Flex transponder on their car to declare occupancy and pay tolls electronically. As for the cost, a $40 prepaid balance is required before getting a transponder from Metro and a monthly “account maintenance fee” applies (currently $1/mo).
It is funny that if you google “FasTrak”, as it’s the only clue from all the posted signs, the first few links shown is actually the Bay Area FasTrak, the agency located in San Francisco.
the Bay Area FasTrak website is literally titled “FasTrak”.
The FasTrak system was first developed in Orange County by TCA, who owns the fastrak.org domain. As the statewide toll collection system, it works with 11 tolling agencies throughout California.
Monthly fee by FasTrak agency, source: Wikipedia
As a redditor and a Wikipedia page point out, some FasTrak agencies have monthly fees while others do not. Since technically the transponders “all work to pay your toll anywhere the FasTrak logo is displayed in the state of California”, I opened an account with Bay Area FasTrak.
the transponder I received from Bay Area FasTrak