San Diego's Two Toll Systems, and How Each One Bills You

People new to the county tend to lump these two together because both involve FasTrak. They work on opposite principles. One is a road where everybody pays; the other is a set of lanes where most people with a passenger pay nothing at all. Mixing them up is how drivers end up with a violation notice for a trip they thought was free.

The two facilities side by side

On the I-15 lanes, a carpool means two or more occupants, and SANDAG's traveler site counts an occupant as any person sitting in a safety restraint. When the overhead sign reads HOV ONLY, solo drivers are told to stay out; a solo FasTrak driver who enters anyway is charged the maximum toll and a matching fine. There are more than 20 places to move between the express lanes and the regular lanes, so missing one is rarely worth a risky cut across.

The rule that changed: clean-air decals

For years an electric or plug-in car with a state decal could use carpool lanes alone. SANDAG's FasTrak page now says plainly that Clean Air Vehicle decals no longer allow free access to HOV lanes for solo drivers. Some older pages on the web still list clean-air vehicles as free on the I-15 lanes; go by SANDAG's current page. A solo EV driver in the express lanes needs a FasTrak account and pays like anyone else.

Veterans with qualifying plates: free on SR 125, not on I-15

SANDAG runs a veterans toll exemption that gives a full toll discount on the SR 125 Toll Road. It covers Disabled Veteran, Congressional Medal of Honor, Legion of Valor, Pearl Harbor Survivor, Ex-Prisoner of War and Purple Heart plates. The veteran must be the registered owner of the plated vehicle, must have an active SANDAG FasTrak account with a transponder, and must use that transponder. It does not apply to the I-15 Express Lanes or other high-occupancy toll lanes. Driving SR 125 on a qualifying plate without the account still produces a violation.

Where insurance comes into it, and where it does not

A toll is a bill, not a driving-record entry, and nothing about using either road changes your premium directly. Three adjacent things do matter:

• Mileage. A commute that moves to SR 125 or the express lanes often changes distance as well as time. Annual mileage is one of the three factors California requires insurers to weigh first under Insurance Code section 1861.02, so a real change is worth reporting.
• Moving violations. An unsafe lane change into or out of the express lanes is written like any other ticket, and that does reach your record.
• Whose name the notice goes to. Plate-based billing goes to the registered owner. If a family member drives your car through SR 125 without paying, the notice comes to you. Keep the FasTrak account current with every vehicle and plate in the household.

Coming next: a toll road to the new border crossing

SANDAG and Caltrans are building the Otay Mesa East port of entry, and the project includes a new four-lane toll road along SR 11 connecting directly to it. It is listed as in progress; check SANDAG's project page rather than assuming it is open.

If your commute changed when you started using either road, ask us to re-check the mileage on your policy — it takes a few minutes and it is one of the corrections we make most often.