Ducati Monster Forum

I hope this is not a derby;

Saw a banner on the Bay Bridge this morning stating that the carpool lane will be $2.50 starting July first.

Honestly, I've never been sure what the story is with motorcycles in the carpool lane. Generally  I see other bikes rolling through the toll plaza in the carpool lane. So I have done the same.

I couldn't care less about $2.50, but the carpool lane always seemed to be a lot safer with less people jockeying for position, merging, etc.

Anybody know how this affects bikes?

It means you have to wheelie through or get a plate flipper, then it's still free.



I vote everyone pays with $1 coins and fifty cent pieces, as they have no spots in the cash drawer for 'em.

That seems devious & I like it. I will probably end up fast tracking it.
But damn, I felt a lot safer breezin' through the car pool lane.

It's true.  But it doesn't affect the way you ride through the carpool lane.  Same rules apply as when it was free--it's just not free anymore. 

i vote that everyone shoots the tool booth workers  [evil]

Hell, why not just use Confederate money?

Pay them in pennys..

If you're going to do that, just use Canadian money!

asshat!  :P

Last I looked the money they use in Canadia was worth more than ours  :'(

Only if used in Canadia...  .93 to the $1

What do you mean officer? I was just stretching as I rode through the toll crossing, I didn't know my hand was over the plate.....

Fixed it for ya.

I still have a personalized Hawaii plate reading "GONZO".
Not terribly inconspicuous.

Then why are you stopping to pay a toll at all? Blow the toll plaza, then let 'em send you a ticket in Hawaii ;D

Thought about that but I still own the house where the bike is registered.
Sadly it is very hard to hide these days.

Then wheelie through the toll plaza so you're plate's on the ground ;D

Sooooooo......party at your Hawaii house is when?

A better question is whether the carpool lane will be fastrak only. If not, it's going to be really really slow. This place gets worse every day. It costs more and more for less and less.

Probably won't be Fastrak only--at least not initially.  They might figure that part out after the fact.  Just split up to the front like I do--I'm an a-hole for doing it, but let 'em try to catch me. 

I remember reading in the news that you will have to have FasTrak to use the carpool lanes.

I'm glad I don't live down there anymore. I should probably send my fastrack thingy back.

I'm too lazy to check...hope you're right though!  [thumbsup]

Whew! You're right. I just found this article:

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/FasTrak-use-avoids-higher-toll-93647264.html (http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/FasTrak-use-avoids-higher-toll-93647264.html)

Carpoolers who pay cash have to use a regular lane and pay $6. So the carpool lane will still be faster, just not as cheap. Now help me glue my transponder to the top of my helmet.  ;D

I don't even carry my fastrak with me when I'm on the bike. They just take a picture of my plate and then they charge my account. I'm thinking it's going to work the same way for the carpool lane. Do we need the fastrak thing on us physically?

That's what I do now too. But I only do that once or twice a year. The rest of the time, I'm crossing during commute hours so it's free. I wonder if they'll crack down if they have to look up our account 5 days/week.

Technically, yes.  Do they enforce it?  Not really.  They did a little crackdown last summer for about a month.  Heard of a few people getting nailed with what I recall being somewhat expensive tickets.  I don't know if they stuck or not for the motorcyclists who got nailed.  Obviously the requirement for having them affixed to your vehicle is a bit more challenging with a bike than it is with a car and one could use that argument to get out of the ticket.  The more practical side of that is that I cross bridges all the time, my plate flops around in the breeze, been stopped like that a few times now, never got a fix-it, never got ticketed for not carrying the transponder, etc.  I've been riding this way for about seven years and the only tickets that I've received have been for speeding. 

I always had success with my transponder under my seat or in my bag, never had issues.

One thing that I've noticed recently is that they've started taking pictures of your plate even when the transponder registers.  Used to be that the flash of the camera didn't go off if the transponder beeped and you got the "Valid" sign, now I see the flash every time.

I keep my transponder in the front pocket of my jacket.... This is what fastrak says about it:

http://www.bayareafastrak.org/static/about/faq_general.shtml#6 (http://www.bayareafastrak.org/static/about/faq_general.shtml#6)

Can I use FasTrak with my motorcycle?
Yes. Motorcycles can use FasTrak to pay tolls by mounting their toll tag in a secure location. We do not advise you to hold the toll tag up while driving through the toll lane as it may not be read accurately. Also, we are not responsible for any lost toll tags due to the toll tag not adhering to the motorcycle windshield.
It is recommended that you use one of the following methods to secure your toll tag:

Place toll tag in your front pocket, as it can be read through the material.
Place toll tag inside a cycle net (somewhere on top) that drapes over the gas tank.
Leave toll tag in the glove compartment, if applicable.

My parents came to visit and brought their transponder with them (we apparently accept transponders from MA on our bridges)

They stuck it on their rental car, and it worked while they were here, until...

About a month later they get a big fat ticket in the mail for using a transponder on a car not registered for use with the transponder  [roll]

So apparently they check every plate, even when the transponder is "good"

And now my dad just registers the plate on the rental via the web and then removes it when they drop the car off. Seems pretty retarded they make folks jump through those hoops

[roll] x 11ty billion

If you register the car within 10 days of the ticket the ticket is voided.  That's how it worked when I ran a valid transponder on a car that wasn't registered for use with that transponder.  Well, let's say that I haven't received anymore nasty-grams from FasTrak.  I don't really know if the ticket was voided or not.  They told me that if I registered it, that it was a done deal.  I've also used the excuse that I grabbed the wrong transponder...and didn't get further harassed.  I have a million excuses.  Ping me and I'll give you one.  Creative ones will cost you a tamale at Zeitgeist.  My standard ones are free. 

Or you could just wheelie through the toll plaza.

Some people are wheelie-impaired or simply choose (I know, it's shocking...) to keep both wheels on the ground.  Let's work on finding solutions that keep both wheels on the ground as I'm positive that the wheelie fine will equal or be somewhat bigger than the accidental toll evasion.   ;D

If you wheelie high enough, both wheels are technically on the ground.

OK you lost me on that one.

+1.  Put the bong down, Desmo.

No, the bong will get you pulled over faster than anything.

Every time I see this thread title I read it as, "New Trolls"

It makes me laugh.

So, yesterday was the day they started charging $2.50 for carpoolers on the bay bridge...   Anybody been charged on their fastrak account yet?  I went through yesterday, but it's not charged to my account yet.

I'm doing a personal test to see how fast you can go through the toll plaza and still have it register your plate.  Today I went through going about 60.... [evil]

you could miss this gem if you were scrolling too fast.
I wanted to revisit.  [laugh]

Now THATS one for the Myth Busters!


They did a similar test with Photo Radarspeed traps.

They used all manor of vehicle going absurdly fast past this douchbag cop and his little camera box. The cop just smiled and kept saying how their cute show was stupid and this effort was futile.

So they got pissed and got a top fuel jet car and did about 250MPH past it.
That worked. The camera didn't register anything.

So I guess go 250 through the Toll Plaza.