Live Q&As

Probably wasn't the time change. Two Mondays a year, I look at the traffic maps and cameras to see if I can spot something like that on the first Monday commute after the time change, but don't see it in the overall view. The traditional places that get jammed up on Mondays get jammed up on those Mondays.

Also, seems like the fall time change, if unheeded, would have pushed commuters out there earlier than normal. When you were traveling at 6:45, they would have thought it was 7:45.

Mondays are normally a bit lighter than midweek commutes. But maybe also some have taken the whole week off because they can tack on an extra day of vacation, with Veterans Day Monday as a federal holiday.

But did other commuters think they were seeing something special this morning?

(For traffic safety, my greater concern right after the time change is with the afternoon commute, when the sun is either lower, and right in your eyes, or you've got that twilight grayness to deal with.)

They should be open at the same time. Everything -- all the ramps and lanes -- associated with the 495 Express Lanes (Beltway HOT lanes) should open early in the morning of Saturday, Nov. 17. So most commuters would get their first experience with them on Monday morning, Nov. 19.

I'm planning another blog posting about the new lanes for this afternoon. Got my first chance to ride in them on Friday. Found the experience a bit disorienting and want to tell you more about that.

Trips that don't allow Blue Line riders the option of taking the Yellow Line are definitely a problem since the start of the Rush Plus service since June. I'm surprised, though, to hear you say that the west end of the Orange Line is part of the problem. Metro put three extra  trains per hour onto the Orange Line as part of Rush Plus.

(My colleague, Mark Berman, and I did another Rush Plus test for Sunday's Commuter page. We again rode between King Street and Farragut West. Added an afternoon trip this time. Got different results from our first test in June. )

Here's a link to that: http://wapo.st/PNJQbn

Metro officials can't either. I'm not sure how they're going to accommodate all the trains they are planning to add for the Silver Line.

 Metro officials say the Rosslyn tunnel is now at capacity.

A few trains that now start at Vienna will shift over to start at Wiehle Avenue, the temporary terminus for the Silver Line. Still, that doesn't reach the goal for rush hour service on the Silver Line.

Metro says it hasn't decided exactly how to restructure the service. They do have some time, but riders are starting to wonder.

A good question: Blue Line service through Rosslyn has been reduced under Rush Plus. Will it have to be reduced some more to accommodate the Silver Line trains heading into the tunnel?

No.

Anyone?

When I got my test ride on Friday, it looked like almost all the signs along the 14 miles of express lanes were operating in a test. Many said the lanes were opening on Nov. 17, some others directed commuters to check expresslanes.com for more information. Some signs won't be uncovered till the last minute.

One thing, of course, you don't see right now: There are no tolls posted on the variable message boards. You won't see that till the lanes open.

I should double check, but I think you're describing the links to the express lanes when you talk about those mystery lanes.

The HOV ramps are definitely not tolled. There should be E-ZPass readers to the west for drivers who have committed themselves to using the express lanes.

(If you're paying the toll -- as opposed to using the E-ZPass Flex transponder to get the free ride for HOV3 people -- you have to pass under two E-ZPass readers. The first one will record your entry into the express lanes. Your toll rate is set at that point. Later, you'll pass under a second toll reader near your exit point. That will  determine how far you've traveled.

I guess that's a bit like how Metro fares work. When you pass through the fare gate, the reader determines if you're going to be paying peak or off-peak fares. But the exact amount you pay is determined by the distance you travel.

Did anyone else see evidence of a mass stranding? Could what the commenter saw have been a question of people not checking the exact time for the last train departure from a particular station?

We're talking about the HOT lanes, right? Yes, I think the HOT lanes will ease traffic on the Beltway, both for the HOT lane users and for the drivers who continue to use the general purpose lanes.

We may see some initial confusion. One thing I'll be watching for is the effect of bringing express lanes traffic into the left side of the regular lanes where the express lanes end north of the Dulles Toll Road.

But the basic thing I'm thinking is this: You can't add four lanes to the Beltway without easing traffic for most of that route. Whether they're managed lanes with variable tolls or just regular lanes, that effect of widening the highway would be the same.

It's possible that might not last. Maybe in a few years people will be making their housing decisions based on having these extra lanes. At that point, I'd watch for the traffic to build up in the regular lanes. The express lanes shouldn't become crowded because the variable toll will rise as high as it has to to ease congestion in those lanes.

The last thing I remember was "around Thanksgiving" for opening the ramp from the outbound through span on the 11th Street Bridge to northbound 295. That will indeed be a breakthrough for commuters. I'll check this week and see if there's an update, but in my experience, it's still a little early for the project to name an exact date. The last little bit of prep for these ramp openings is very dependent on favorable weather for paving and lane striping.

Arcing insulation in the Red Line tunnel. We had a short item: http://wapo.st/Wcxa0n

And then afterward, some people told me there was a lot of confusion about the station skipping. What the Metro announcements were telling passengers didn't match up with what they were experiencing with the skips.

The only places to move straight from the regular lanes onto the express lanes are at the end points, Springfield and the area just north of the Dulles Toll Road. Exiting and entering in between involves using ramps at interchanges.

This is a point I was trying to make in a recent Commuter page feature to help drivers get oriented:

http://wapo.st/TKDydq

I'm trying to keep track of all your questions and comments about the express lanes, whether you post them here, or on the Dr. Gridlock blog or send them to me at drgridlock@washpost.com.

I've got one more Commuter page feature coming up, probably for Nov. 18, that will be a user's guide to the new lanes, similar to the one I did just before Maryland opened the Intercounty Connector.

Once the lanes are open, I want to take a bunch of drives up and down, so I can give you a review and address any concerns based on actually using them.

Like you, I've just heard "November" for the Bethesda escalators. These "modernizations" are different from the breakdowns. Metro workers basically rebuild the entire thing. To me, there more like road projects, where the agency sets a target, but might turn out to be a few weeks off. (Which happens all the time.)

We don't have a similar tolling system in the D.C. region, so I get lots of questions about this, and it will take all of us some getting used to.

First, we won't really know what the tolls will be like till we actually see them in operation after the opening.

But the Transurban folks are saying they could range from about 20 cents a mile at quiet times to about $1.25 per mile at rush hour. The average trip is likely to cost $5 or $6.

Most people are going to use the lanes at rush hour. That's when they'll have the greatest incentive to use them. When more people get in the lanes, the price for using them will go up. There's no cap on how high.

But when the toll gets too pricey, drivers will stop entering the express lanes and use the general purpose lanes instead. Then the toll will drop.

If you're with me so far, I'll add a couple of complications:

Before you enter the lanes -- before you have to commit -- you'll see message boards displaying tolls to three destinations. The last one will be all the way to the end of the express lanes. In other words, that's the max that you're going to pay. The two others will be tolls to popular destinations -- most likely something in Tysons, I figure.

So it's possible you'll never see the exact toll to your own particular exit. You'll just know the toll to a nearby exit, and you'll know the maximum you could pay if you went all the way to the end of the express lanes.

Now, I've already noted that the lanes aren't set up so that you can slide in and out of them every mile or so. Most of the entrances and exits are at interchanges.

So don't picture yourself driving along the Beltway and thinking, wow, looks really heavy up ahead, I'll slide over into the express lanes now.

You won't be able to do that. (And don't think about crunching your way through those white bollards. That's going to leave a mark.)

I think this is going to mean that commuters have to pay more attention to the traffic reports before they leave home or office. I can't figure any other way most people are going to know whether they really want to spend the money to use the new lanes -- unless they just know they're running late and don't want to take a chance on the traffic.

Yes, I agree with you that there's no way to turn back Blue Line trains at Rosslyn during rush hours. Off-peak -- maybe way off peak -- it might be possible to do that, same as you cite about the Yellow Line turnback at Fort Totten: Can't do it at rush hours, can do it off peak.

(My recollection is that for some of the weekend maintenance project, Metro has run a Blue Line shuttle between Rosslyn and Pentagon.)

But I think we're both saying the bottom line is that turning back Blue Line trains at Rosslyn to accommodate the Silver Line trains entering the tunnel is not an option.

Thanks, will try to address the Orange Line issues in another Commuter page feature. For this past one, I wanted to go back and repeat the June Blue Line experience at a time when ridership would not be in any sort of summer lull, and on the other hand, Metro would have had a chance to work out some problems.

It does look very heavy on the morning maps. My guess is that it's connected to congestion on southbound DC 295 near Pennsylvania Avenue, but I'd like to hear from other driver who experience this commute.