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IN THIS EDITION:
- I-80 Express Lanes Facts and Information
- STA Board Supports Advancing I-80/I-680/SR 12 Interchange Project Construction Package 5 Funding Plan
- STA Board Allocates Funding for Low Carbon Transit Operational Program Population Based and Revenue Funds to Solano County Transit Operators
- Safe Routes to School Calendar of Events
- Solano Mobility Programs: Call Center First Quarter Report for FY 2025-26
- SR 37 Fairgrounds Drive Project Update
- Get Involved with STA Advisory Committees
| | I-80 Express Lanes Facts and Information | | |
What are the I-80 Express Lane rules?
- FasTrak is required to use the lanes
- With a properly-set FasTrak Flex Toll tag in the vehicle:
- 2-person carpools pay half-price tolls
- 3+ person carpool travel toll free
- Motorcycles travel toll free
- 2 people in a 2-seater vehicle travel toll free (set tag to 3+)
- The lanes operate 7 days a week from 5:00 AM to 8:00 PM
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Learn more at expresslanes.511.org
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Why were the new highway lanes on I-80 built as express lanes?
I-80 is a heavily traveled, unreliable gateway corridor between the Bay Area, Sacramento, the Sierra, Redding, and Nevada. The corridor serves local and regional commuters, freight, and significant pass-through traffic. Despite significant regional growth and a burgeoning mega-region economy, the I-80 gateway corridor had not been expanded since the 1970s. Expanding capacity accommodates more vehicle trips but also encourages more vehicle trips. Expanding the corridor with express lanes relieves traffic congestion while tempering new traffic demand. The express lanes prioritize carpools and transit with a dedicated, reliable travel lane, thereby increasing person throughput. Express lanes also offer solo drivers the choice to pay tolls to use the more reliable travel lane to increase use of the lane. The added capacity and the choice for a faster trip reduces diversion from the highway to local streets and generates revenue that is reinvested back into the corridor for operations, maintenance, and future improvements.
Why operate the I-80 Express Lanes on weekends?
Because of its position as an interregional gateway, weekend traffic on I-80 through Vacaville and Fairfield often equals or exceeds weekday volumes. Operating express lanes on weekends extends the weekday express lane benefits to weekend commuters, carpools, vanpools, and transit riders and those who choose to pay tolls. Managing weekend traffic discourages diversion to local streets and helps stabilize corridor performance year-round. Weekend traffic on I-80 is expected to increase over time, so starting weekend tolling at the inception of express lane operations helps manage the growth of this future demand and encourages new carpooling and use of transit.
Caltrans, the Solano County Transportation Authority, and the regional agency that operates express lanes, called BAIFA (the Bay Area Infrastructure Financing Authority (BAIFA), mutually support weekend express lane operations on I-80 for an up-to-3-year pilot period.
Why does a carpool need 3 or more passengers to travel toll-free?
HOV3+ maximizes people-throughput in the express lanes. Prioritizing higher-occupancy vehicles supports climate and congestion-management goals by rewarding shared travel. HOV2 vehicles still receive a discount, while single-occupant vehicles can choose to pay for a more reliable trip. Limiting toll-free travel to 3+ person carpools also helps ensure that the lanes will not become overcrowded and lose their travel-time benefits. Highly traveled corridors like I-880, I-80 in Contra Costa and Alameda counties, SR-237 and US-101 in the west bay all require 3+ persons per vehicle for HOV lane use or toll-free express lane use.
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How do the Express Lanes benefit Solano County?
The demand-management policies of the express lane allowed the region to add capacity to I-80, which hadn’t been expanded since the 1970s despite growing population and economic activity. Without lane management policies, new capacity only serves to increase traffic, spiraling the congestion problem, frustrating drivers and adding greenhouse gas emissions. Toll revenues will pay for operating, maintaining, and preserving the I-80 express lanes, including enforcement and reserves. Remaining net revenue is reinvested in the I-80 corridor, as required by statute. The project also delivers non-financial benefits to Solano residents: more reliable travel for weekday and weekend workers and transit riders, reduced cut-through traffic on local streets, and having regional pass-through traffic contribute directly to future improvements in the county.
How are people with the lowest incomes helped?
Express lanes are intended to be used by toll-paying drivers when getting somewhere on time is most critical, not necessarily an everyday choice. Drivers of all incomes experience those moments. To support the ability for very low-income drivers to benefit from express lanes, the Express Lanes START pilot program provides a 50% toll discount to qualifying low-income drivers. Additionally, the Bay Area Tolling Authority is expanding outreach, toll-tag distribution, and multilingual education, particularly in Solano County, to reduce barriers to accessing FasTrak and express lanes benefits.
Are the I-80 Express Lane policies permanent?
The I-80 Express Lane operating agency called BAIFA (the Bay Area Infrastructure Financing Authority) is monitoring the I-80 Express Lane operations and can adjust policies to improve lane performance and respond to drivers’ needs. I-80 weekend tolling data will be collected for one year and evaluated for congestion, person throughput, revenue, diversion, travel reliability and other factors to determine if weekend tolling should continue. A decision on whether to continue weekend tolling will be determined between late 2027 and late 2028.
BAIFA and Caltrans will also monitor the express lane capacity and speeds to determine if the HOV occupancy requirement for toll-free travel should remain at 3+ or be adjusted upward or downward.
Finally, BAIFA will assess the effectiveness of half-price tolls for income-qualified drivers and determine if this benefit should continue or if there are other, better ways to support very low-income drivers.
Are the I-80 Express Lanes causing more congestion?
The I-80 Express Lanes created additional lane capacity in the 18-mile corridor, thus easing traffic congestion. The start of express lane operations which occurred several months after the opening of the new lane capacity requires drivers to adjust their behavior and learn new rules. Following the start of express lane operations, drivers need to adjust and take advantage by ordering FasTrak in advance. Compared to conditions before the expanded express lane facility, congestion has been improved.
| | STA Board Supports Advancing I-80/I-680/SR 12 Interchange Project Construction Package 5 Funding Plan | | Package 5 is the fifth of seven packages improving the distribution of three major freeway movements at this interchange by reconfiguring the ramps and access to local streets. This component of the regionally significant Interchange project would construct a new State Route (SR) 12 (West)/Red Top Road/Business Center Drive partial interchange, extend Business Center Drive from its current terminus westerly across SR 12, connecting with a realigned Red Top Road at the existing I-80/Red Top Road interchange. Together, these improvements will benefit motorists and the local community by improving travel times, reducing cut-through traffic on local streets, and enhance safety and operational efficiency for motorists along the I-80/I-680/SR-12 Interchange linking the Bay Area, the Napa Valley, and Sacramento. | | STA Board Allocates Funding for Low Carbon Transit Operational Program Population Based and Revenue Funds to Solano County Transit Operators | | The Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) is one of several programs that are part of the Transit, Affordable Housing, and Sustainable Communities Program established by the California Legislature in 2014 by Senate Bill 862. The LCTOP was created to provide operating and capital assistance for transit agencies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve mobility, with a priority on serving disadvantaged communities. Approved projects in LCTOP will support new or expanded bus or rail services, intermodal transit facilities, equipment acquisition, fueling, maintenance, and other costs to operate those services or facilities, with each project reducing greenhouse gas emissions. | | At the February STA Board meeting, the STA Board approved the Solano County LCTOP Population and Revenue Based Fund Allocations for Solano County transit operators. The City of Suisun City will be using their LCTOP funds to purchase an electric vehicle for their Suisun City Microtransit system while the City of Fairfield is using their LCTOP funds to help fund the expansion of their transit facility. | | Safe Routes to School Calendar of Events | | Safe Routes to School events are happening throughout the county, including bike mobiles, helmet fittings, and community outreach events. Join us in promoting safe walking and biking for students and families. For event details and dates, see the calendar below or visit the SR2S Webpage. | | |
Handlebar Helmet Check Program
"Helmets are Required”. That’s the message attached to handlebars without a helmet hanging from them at John Knight Middle and Dixon Montessori Charter School in Dixon. Followed by, “Get One for Free in the Front Office”. Students are taking them up on that offer. The Handlebar Helmet Check Program, a Solano Safe Routes to School initiative, has been successful since its launch this month, with more than 24 helmets handed out to Dixon students at no cost to the students or the school site.
| | Solano Mobility Programs: Call Center First Quarter Report for FY 2025-26 | |
Operating Monday through Friday from 8:00 PM to 5:00 PM, the Solano Mobility Call Center serves as a one-stop shop for a wide range of programs and services, including:
- ADA Eligibility Program
- Intercity Taxi Card (ITX) Program
- Medical Trip Concierge Program with GoGoGrandparent
- Veterans Mobility Program
- Travel Training and Trip Planning
- Clipper Card Sales
- Microtransit and local Lyft partnerships
- Commuter-focused programs such as:
- 2-for-1 Solano Express
- Capitol Corridor + Lyft Program
- Bucks for Bikes
- Commute Rewards
- First/Last Mile Program
- Guaranteed Ride Home
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Solano Mobility Call Center’s First Quarter of Fiscal Year 2025-26 highlights can be viewed below:
- 160 applications processed through the Solano Mobility website
- Attended five community events—connecting with approximately 200 Solano County residents
- Answered calls in less than 10 seconds on average
For more information on the Mobility Call Center or for information about a specific program that we offer, please visit https://www.solanomobility.org/ or contact the Call Center Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM at 800‐535‐6883.
| | SR 37 Fairgrounds Drive Project Update | | |
The STA, in close coordination with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the City of Vallejo, is continuing construction work on the new State Route 37/Fairgrounds Drive Interchange Project in Vallejo. The interchange improvement project will enhance motorist safety and improve bicycle and pedestrian access with construction of a new divergent diamond interchange. This is the first-ever divergent diamond interchange (DDI) constructed in the Bay Area and only the second-ever constructed on a major highway in California.
Construction at SR 37 and Fairgrounds Drive started construction in April 2025. The site is near the Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Theme Park and the Solano County Fairgrounds. In May, traffic in both directions were shifted to the west side of SR 37 and a temporary pedestrian walkway was constructed. Now, STA and Caltrans are moving forward with work to reconstruct the existing Fairgrounds Drive and widen the roadway to accommodate the upcoming Diverging Diamond Interchange.
Construction is scheduled to be completed in June of 2026.
| | To read more about the SR 37/Fairgrounds Drive Interchange Improvement Project, please click here. | | |
Get Involved with STA Advisory Committees
The STA has positions on our Bicycle Advisory Committee, Pedestrian Advisory Committee (PAC), and Paratransit Coordinating Council (PCC).
The BAC and PAC advise the STA on the development of bicycle and pedestrian facilities as an active mode of transportation in Solano County. To accomplish this, committee members assist the STA to develop countywide transportation plans and projects and provide funding recommendations for active transportation projects.
The PCC works on countywide senior and disabled transit issues as required by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and makes recommendations on transit and paratransit funding, claims, and coordination.
We are currently looking for the following representatives:
Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC)
- City of Benicia
- City of Rio Vista
Pedestrian Advisory Committee (PAC)
- City of Dixon
- Member-at-Large
Paratransit Coordinating Council (PCC)
- Public Agency – Education member
For more information on the BAC Open Positions, click here, click here for more information on the PAC Open Positions, and here for information on PCC Open Positions.
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