WASHINGTON — Drivers whose E-ZPass fails or who otherwise miss paying for a toll along Northern Virginia’s express lanes can now find out about it through an app, and pay the toll or contest it before fees skyrocket.
When drivers create or link an account to the app that includes a license plate number, the app can check whether that plate is tied to any unpaid tolls in the preceding five days.
As drivers can already do online, if the toll is paid through the app or the express Lanes website within five days, the additional fee on top of the toll is $1.50.
After that, the notice will disappear from the app because a mailed invoice with higher fees will be sent out. The unpaid toll will also disappear from the list if the toll is paid within the five day period.
The Express Lanes app, from express lanes operator Transurban, launched this week for Apple and Android devices.
It also includes real-time information on toll prices and access to traffic cameras and message signs along the Beltway and Interstate 95, similar to what was already available through the Express Lanes website.
Drivers who use the express lanes with three or more people in the car, and an E-ZPass Flex switched into HOV mode, can travel for free.
All other drivers who use the lanes, either with fewer than three people in the car or without an E-ZPass Flex must pay a toll. The price rises and falls with the amount of traffic in the Express Lanes.
Virginia has announced plans to extend the 95/395 Express Lanes north to the Pentagon and south about two miles from the current merge. There are also plans to add similar lanes on Interstate 66 outside the Capital Beltway by the early 2020s.
