Q: As a country guy, driving in the big city, I get confused by the diamond lanes and pay lanes and assorted left lanes in the Seattle Metro area. My wife and I travel through there, and we wonder what the rules are for the various lanes. Can we take our 5th wheel trailer in the diamond lanes or express lanes? Do RVs follow truck or car laws? How does one get a pay lane pass and what are the costs?
A: Despite having one set of traffic laws for the whole state, driving in Washington can be quite diverse. If you live in a rural community you probably have to leave your county to find an HOV lane, and if you live in an urban area you may have never encountered a tractor on the roadway. This week we’ll help out the country folks with lanes you’ll only encounter on urban roadways, and next week we’ll explain to city folks how to drive in the farmlands.
Let’s start with the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, also called diamond or carpool lanes, since they’re the most common specialized lane you’re likely to encounter. HOV lanes are restricted to vehicles with the number of occupants specified on the sign (usually two, and sometimes three), along with buses, motorcycles, emergency vehicles and tow trucks responding to an incident. The law specifically includes RVs in the list of vehicles allowed in HOV lanes when the occupant requirement is met. Trucks in excess of 10,000 pounds are not allowed in the HOV lane regardless of the number of occupants.
We also have HOV lanes with a toll option for solo drivers. State Route 167 has High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, where carpoolers can use the lane for free while solo drivers with a Good To Go! Pass can pay a toll to use the lane. I-405 has express toll lanes, which work similar to the HOT lanes, but carpoolers need a Flex Pass to use the lane. Tolls for non-carpoolers vary depending on traffic volume.
And there are three toll routes in Washington (not including the ferry system), all in the Seattle metro area. The routes are SR 520 Bridge (rates vary by time of day), Tacoma Narrows Bridge (fixed rate collected for trips to Tacoma) and SR 99 Tunnel (rates vary by time of day). Drivers save a couple bucks if they have a Good To Go! pass instead of paying by mail. There are several options for Good To Go! passes; you can find the details on the Washington State DOT website in their section on Good To Go!
As to whether RVs follow truck or car laws, it depends. For freeway speed limits, you might need to follow the law for trucks. The law states, “The maximum speed limit for vehicles over ten thousand pounds gross weight and vehicles in combination . . . shall not exceed sixty miles per hour . . .” The definition of “combination of vehicles” includes any motor vehicle and trailer, so if you’re towing your RV or driving a big enough motor home, the 60 mph limit applies to you. You’ll also need to stay out of the left lane of the freeway when there are three or more lanes. (The carpool lane doesn’t count as the left lane.)
Even though carpool and HOT lanes are primarily about efficiency, getting familiar with your route before you travel is an important part of situational awareness. Knowing what you might encounter reduces surprises, which you might like on your birthday, but not so much while you’re driving.
So Washington is similar to California on the maximum speed of trailers–60 mph. Odd I knew more about another state than my own. The same statute explains why pickup trucks don’t generally have to follow the “truck” speed limit–they’re not typically over 10,000 gross weight.
But looking at the RCWs I can’t figure out what “auto stages” are. The statutes just seem to assume that’s a commonly known term. I assume it’s a passenger bus, but have never seen that term before.
I had to look that one up too. Here’s the definition of auto stage from the RCW: “Auto stage” means any motor vehicle used for the purpose of carrying passengers together with incidental baggage and freight or either, on a regular schedule of time and rates: PROVIDED, That no motor vehicle shall be considered to be an auto stage where substantially the entire route traveled by such vehicle is within the corporate limits of any city or town or the corporate limits of any adjoining cities or towns. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.04.050
I’ve never heard the term used outside the law, but it looks like it would apply to a bus or shuttle that travels between cities or counties; something like Greyhound or the Airporter Shuttle.