1) I drove from San Mateo to Sunnyvale daily for years pre-pandemic using the HOV lane (Took a bus, carpooled etc) . So happy to not live in the Bay Area anymor

1) I drove from San Mateo to Sunnyvale daily for years pre-pandemic using the HOV lane (Took a bus, carpooled etc) . So happy to not live in the Bay Area anymore (for many reasons, but that aside) - that commute would be absolutely awful now assuming everyone goes back to the office and everything goes back to normal. It used to take 45 mins anyways on busy days with the carpool lane. I'm not convinced everything will really ever be back to normal in the bay area and full RTO is a pipe dream (also an aside), but that traffic will still be a mess because bay area. Now everyone can pay to play and probably only buses will ever be able to use it (plus all the cheaters! - cheaters are everywhere). Note that one of the "selling points" of the express lanes was that during peak congestion, the HOV lane becomes "Bus Only" to give preference to the most effecient mode of transport (8+ passenger busses/vans iirc) 2) If you have a Clean Air Vehicle, you need to order a special CAV toll tag to avoid paying full fees. Some freeways are still free, others will give you a discount. This link has the full details https://www.bayareafastrak.org/en/support/clean-air-vehicle.shtml https://www.bayareafastrak.org/en/support/clean-air-vehicle....