New express lanes on U.S. Highway 101 from the Santa Clara County line to Whipple Avenue in Redwood City will officially open Friday, Feb. 11, officials with the San Mateo County Transit District announced. The express lanes will operate from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays.

Express lanes are available for drivers enrolled in the FasTrak system. All customers must have a FasTrak Flex to qualify for free or reduced tolls in the express lanes, as it allows them to disclose how many passengers they are carrying, officials said. Those without valid FasTrak accounts will be in violation and are subject to fines and penalties.

People driving in carpools with three or more people, as well as buses, will be able to travel free of charge in the express lanes. Customers driving clean air vehicles such as cars that run on fuel cells, battery, or plug-in hybrids that have a valid clean-air vehicle decal from the Department of Motor Vehicles will qualify for a 50 percent toll discount when the lanes first open, officials said.

The express-lane project will continue, with lanes being extended to the northern end, up from Whipple Avenue to Interstate 380. The lanes lead directly into express lanes in Santa Clara County.

More information about the project is available on the Caltrans website.

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.