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Study Suggests South Bay Express Lanes Benefit Non Toll-Paying Commuters

MILPITAS (KCBS)— Solo drivers willing to pay a toll to use the carpool lanes on highways 680 and 880 in Santa Clara County have seen commute times drop an average of 12-minutes, according to the Valley Transportation Authority.

More drivers appear to be willing to dish out a couple extra bucks to speed up their commute and according to a new study; express lanes are also cutting commute times for non toll-paying drivers.

The VTA said so many commuters are jumping in the express lanes it's helping everyone else's commute as well.

KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:

"I have seen a lot less traffic. The flow of traffic is a lot smoother," said Jordan Bentley in Milpitas who said his morning commute from Fremont to Milpitas has gone from 15 minutes to around 10.

"We are seeing an average of three or four minutes of time savings for those in the general purpose lanes," said Brandi Childress with VTA.

The lanes are working so well they would like to expand them to 237 to Mountain View, Highway 85 and 101 according to Childress.  But not everyone likes the toll lanes, sometimes referred to as "Lexus Lanes."

VTA hopes to use the revenue generated by the tolls for the additional express lanes on other freeways.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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