CALIFORNIA: SR 237/I-880 Express Connectors
The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is one of the leading agencies for the planning and development of sustainable multimodal transportation, integrated with land use in Silicon Valley. The Silicon Valley Express Lanes program is a part of this important sustainable multimodal transportation solution. The focus now is on delivering the Silicon Valley Express Lanes Program in segments based on sections on SR 237 and US 101/SR 85 highways.
The SR 237/I-880 Express Connectors project is the first phase of the SR 237 Express Lanes corridor that converted the carpool lane connector ramps at the SR 237/I-880 interchange to Express Lanes operations. The SR 237/I-880 Express Connectors project opened to tolling operations on March 20, 2012. Carpools with two or more occupants, motorcycles, transit buses and eligible hybrids use the Express Connectors free of charge while solo drivers have the option of paying a toll to use the Express Connectors during commute hours. Tolls for solo drivers are dynamically priced and varies based on the level of congestion. Tolls are collected electronically using the FasTrak transponder technology that is used across the state of California.
Project Status
Opened to traffic in March 2012.
January – March 2018 Update
Traffic Operations Summary
During the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, Quarter 2 (Q2) between October thru December 2017, the SR 237 Express Lane (EL) served a total of about 717,500 vehicles, including 99,900 Single Occupant Vehicles (SOV) /tolled and 617,600 High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV) /non-tolled. The total lane utilization for the FY 2018 Q2 compared to FY 2017 Q2 increased by about 2,800 vehicles (0.4%), the total non-tolled vehicles increased by about 9,800 vehicles (1.6%), and the tolled vehicles decreased by about 7,100 vehicles (6.6%). The estimated toll revenue collected for the FY 2018 Q2 was approximately $305,100 compared to $295,500 from FY 2017 Q2, an increase of about $9,600 (3.3%).
Overall, about 60% of the total tolled vehicles were in the westbound direction (from I-880 southbound to SR 237) and 40% in the eastbound direction (from SR 237 to I-880 northbound). Morning westbound peak period tolled vehicles were approximately 55%, and the afternoon eastbound peak period tolled vehicles were about 45%.
Toll Rates
The average toll rate for FY 2018 Q2 was approximately $3.05 compared to $2.76 for FY 2017 Q2. The minimum toll rate is $0.30 and the maximum toll rate is $8.00.
Clean Air Vehicles
Clean Air Vehicle (CAV) along the SR 237 EL continues to increase over the past three years, since 2014. CAV counts observed in the EL during the FY 2018 Q2 indicates these represent about 35% of vehicles in the westbound direction during the morning peak hour (8 a.m. - 9 a.m.); and about 32% in the eastbound direction during the afternoon peak hour (4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.).
HOV Only Operation
The HOV Only operation is activated when the EL corridor experiences low speeds due to downstream congestion beyond the EL project limits. During the FY 2018 Q2, the EL was restricted to HOV Only operation for a total of 18.5 hours. This equates to an average of about 20 minutes per day. The total HOV Only hours in the westbound direction was 18 hours, while the eastbound direction was 30 minutes.
For More Information Contact
Casey Emoto
Deputy Director, Project Mobility Development
Phone: (408) 321-5564
E-mail: casey.emoto@vta.org
