> the company (said) two salt and plow trucks were working on the southbound Express Lanes on I-495 and I-95, causing traffic to slow and increasing the toll on those lanes.
So no one was going anywhere because of salting and plowing yet the tolls were unaffected and they increased the premium - which would have changed... nothing.
> Tolls for the Express Lanes are dynamic, meaning they change periodically based on real-time traffic conditions to keep the Lanes free-flowing.
> However, rates may rise significantly above the typical range for periods of time in the event of unusually heavy congestion or a specific event like a traffic accident or lane(s) closure.
So because the trucks were slowing things down the price raised deterring more vehicles from entering and slowing this down more. It makes sense to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In this case, the slowness was based on weather conditions and plow trucks not because all the traffic was on express lane and all other lanes were empty. Clearly, their algorithm needs to take road conditions into account when creating this prices.
I didn't read this as a premium to use the express lane or only allow rich people to get home, just an unintended consequence of a beneficial program finding an edge case.
The intent is to set the express lane pricing to a level that keeps their speed at 45MPH or more. The free lanes just do whatever.
I passed a lot of cars in the express lanes on my way home. Cringing at the though of what car accidents lay ahead, but everything was clear.
Source?
>> the company (said) two salt and plow trucks were working on the southbound Express Lanes on I-495 and I-95, causing traffic to slow
What does that even mean?
People value speed differently, and so are being charged differently. If people value speed highly enough, they can pay for the express lane, and if they don't they can take a presumably slower non-express lane. Making this distinction allows everyone to get closer to their own individual "best speed at the best price".