When I first arrived at Dulles Airport a couple weeks ago, I got my rental car, and found my way to my hotel in Herndon by luck. The directions I had from my hotel seemed fine enough, but the signage leaving Dulles Airport didn't jive with my directions. I got onto 267 and off at exit 10 (where my hotel is) without having to pay toll.
A few days ago, I drove into DC. On my way back to Herndon, I got onto 267 towards Dulles Airport. I figured this was the correct way to go, since my hotel was only a couple exits away from the airport.
Wrong.
There are two dedicated lanes that go from DC to Dulles Airport (and vice versa) that are partitioned off from the rest of the highway. There's basically no way to exit until you get to the airport. The good news is there's no toll either. I ended up spending an extra 10 minutes driving to the airport, turning around, and going back to my hotel. At least I saved $1.25 in tolls, right?
Wrong again.
I tried to find my way back to my hotel from Dulles Airport. Confusing signage again, no map or directions this time either. So I was going by memory. Knowing my hotel was only two exits away, I stayed in the right lane to avoid being trapped in the dedicated barriered lanes to DC. Next thing you know, I approached a toll booth, just past exit 9B. Two lanes were marked EZ Pass Only, which as an out-of-towner, I don't have. The other two lanes were marked Exact Change Only - 50¢. Unfortunately, I didn't have any coinage. And none of the booths were staffed.
WTF?
I slowly approach the booths, only to see another vehicle pulled over on the shoulder. I decide to join him. As I dig around my pockets for change, I see many vehicles approaching the booths, some stopping a good 50 feet away due to what appears to be confusion. A couple other cars pull up to the booths, stop for a good minute or so, and go right on through the red light, buzzer ringing and all.
I contemplate my options. Can I back up? No, I'm already several hundred yards into the turn off. What if I just go through the EZ Pass lanes? Well, I'll probably get my photo taken, and a ticket in the mail. Same with the Exact Change lanes. I pretty much felt like I had found my way into one of those traps that allow rodents to enter with no way out. The Exact Change lanes seem to be my only option. Maybe I'll just stick a dollar bill in the bucket and see what happens...
So I did. The light never turned green (which I suspected). I looked into the bucket, and there were a couple other dollar bills sitting on top. I went ahead and shoved all of the dollar bills into the neck of the bucket so that no one else could take them. I checked my mirror, and cars were starting to line up behind me, so I went ahead and blew threw the red. A buzzer sounded, and off I went back to my hotel, a single exit away.
After doing some research, I found out that the state of Virginia give out fines in the amount of $25 for failure to pay a toll. How is someone coming flying into Dulles Airport supposed to know to carry exact change before getting on the stupid toll road? It makes absolutely no sense to me that they don't staff at least one Full Service booth. Apparently, during the daytime, they do staff these booths. The evenings are another story all together.
The conspiracy theorist in me believes that by not staffing the booths and requiring exact change, the state of Virginia can hand out more tickets, increasing their revenue. Somehow that would seem illegal, but not surprising. There are enough people out there who would simply bend over and pay the $25 without a fight.
I called the folks at the Virginia Dept of Transportation (VDOT), and told them my story. I bitched about their lame system. I complained that this whole experience felt like entrapment. I let them know that I refused to pay any fines, since I technically paid my toll (a dollar, which is double the normal fine, and a whole dollar more than it would have cost if they had better signage - as I said earlier, there is no toll between Dulles Airport and Exit 10 if you stay in the left lanes bound for DC just long enough).
The guy at the VDOT was nice enough. He was sympathetic to my situation, and he said he'd do what he can to rectify it. So far, there was no record of my rental car license plate in their system, but it could take 72 hours for it to show up. He agreed to follow up on it and let me know sometime during the week.
What a horrible system. And what a hassle to go through. At least I was able to get a real person on the phone at the VDOT very quickly. I was seriously afraid that I'd have no options, except to write a letter.
My suggested improvements to the Dulles Toll Road include:
- Staff at least one booth 24/7. If staffing costs too much, raise the toll by a quarter during off-peak hours for those requiring Full Service. This will have the added benefit of encouraging other local drivers to buy into the EZ Pass system, thereby requiring less Full Service staffing during peak hours, and also relieving the toll booth areas of congestion.
- Have a change machine at the Exact Change only booths. Change machines are so sophisticated these days that they can easily accept bills up to $20 and give change in a combination of bills and coins.
- Accept credit card payment. Credit card transactions don't cost what they used to for high volume merchants. Self-pay parking lots in San Francisco and other communities accept credit cards for transactions as small as one dollar (I believe Union Station in Washington DC is no different). If needed, add a 25¢ surcharge for credit card payment. Those too cheap to pay the surcharge will either carry exact change or will get an EZ Pass. Those visiting from out of town will gladly pay an extra quarter than deal with the hassle of contesting a ticket.
I have now been stockpiling my quarters in the coin compartment of my rental car.
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