Peach Pass Rates Hit Seven Dollar Mark

June 27th, 2013

Usage of High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes is growing in Georgia. WABE's John Lorinc reports.

It was brief, but historic.

For nearly a half-hour on both Wednesday and Thursday mornings, Peach Pass users were paying $7 to use the HOT lane from Old Peachtree Road to Shallowford Road on I-85.

That an all-time high for that 16-mile trek.

Commuters determine the fee for using those toll lanes. The thicker the traffic, the higher the cost.

“Imagine a McDonalds selling cheeseburgers on days that they’re busy. The price goes up and the days that they’re not busy, the price goes down. McDonalds is not able to do that, but we are given the technologies that are available for traffic,” says Bert Brantley, with Georgia’s State Road and Tollway Authority.

According to Brantley, roughly 20,000 drivers use the HOT lanes on a daily basis, and about 250,000 Peach Pass cards have been issued. He says these HOT lanes help commuters get around metro Atlanta’s notorious traffic.

“Instead of building a new lane that just fills up, just like the other lanes are, which we’ve seen over and over and over again, we’re building these lanes that will be always reliable. A trip that you can use and get around traffic when you need it,” says Brantley.

The daily average rate for weekdays in May was $1.57.