Poll Results: Drivers are being erroneously charged for I-680 Express Lane use

SAN RAMON VALLEY – A recent Danville San Ramon Updates poll found that 72% of Express Lane users say they were erroneously billed for using an I-680 Express Lane.

Last week, we asked our followers if they had been erroneously billed for using the Express Lane, which stretches from the Dublin area to Livorna Road. The lane has been in operation for less than a year.

Hundreds of people responded to the poll. 72% of respondents said their FasTrak bill had errors related to Express Lane charges. 28% said their bill was correct.

“The 680 express lane is a scam,” wrote one Facebook user. “I prefer to call it the Extortion Lane,” wrote another. One woman even said she had never used the lane, but had been charged several times for using it. The highest total number of incorrect charges incurred by a single reader came from another commenter, who claimed she was billed $700 due to Express Lane errors.

The issue also appears to be affecting some of the area’s most notable people. During a July Danville Town Council Meeting, Council Member Renee Morgan and Mayor Newell Arnerich shared they had been charged when they did not enter the lane.

Morgan said during a recent Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) meeting, she learned the commission believed the Express Lanes carried no adverse effects and minor traffic improvements. Morgan added that wasn’t something she was going to accept, noting she had differing personal opinions, but said the council should hold their judgement until MTC has a scheduled re-evaluation of the lanes in the coming months. MTC is also attempting to review erroneous billing, Morgan added.

There have also been recent safety concerns about the Express Lane. “I was almost in a car accident thanks to some jerk trying to dodge the scanners,” wrote one Facebook commenter. In several instances this summer, there have been afternoon collisions in and around the Express Lane. In June, Danville San Ramon Updates reported on three separate vehicle collisions in the Express Lane that occurred only a few hours apart. One of those collisions required three ambulances to be dispatched to the scene.