Adam Tuss, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Putting tolls in place on the newly expanded Intercounty Connector in Maryland caused about a 50 percent drop in the number of vehicles that used the road.
That’s one possible conclusion following the Monday morning rush hour — the first full rush hour that tolls were collected between the I-95 and I-370 corridors.
According to the Maryland Transportation Authority, about 20,000 cars used the road between I-370 and I-95 during last Monday’s morning rush (from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.) when the road was free to drive. Monday morning, when tolls were in place, about 11,000 cars used the road between the same stretch.
“As we’ve been saying since the media tour, the test-drive traffic volumes would be higher than what we are projecting with tolling,” MdTA spokesperson Kelly Melhem writes in an email.
The cost of a full rush-hour trip between the I-95 and I-370 corridors on the ICC is $4. The ICC is an all-electronic toll road with no toll booths. Drivers need an E-ZPass to use the road or else they will have to pay a service fee.
A closer look at the recent usage on the ICC:
- Traffic volumes between I-370 and Georgia Avenue:
- 11/28/2011 – 11,377
- 12/5/2011 – 6,560
Traffic volumes between US-29 and I-95:
- 11/28/2011 – 8,932
- 12/5/2011 – 4,290
TOTALS:
- 11/28/2011 – 20,309
- 12/5/2011 – 10,850
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