That is all that separates us plebeian I-95 drivers from those that are willing to pay extra to travel in the Express Lanes in the center of Miami. The lanes run for about 10 miles from central Miami to Exit 12, Miami Gardens Drive. What they have done is take two existing lanes and segregate them from the other 4 or 5 with plastic poles and charge your SunPass device 75¢ to $1.50 for the privilege of riding in these special lanes. Trouble is that during busy times, and I saw a couple of them last week, these “express” lanes are no better than the regular lanes.
About the time I was watching a car squeeze through two of these poles to go from the Express Lanes to the regular ones during Friday evening rush hour, the Purple Whale was passing through the 49,000 mile mark on his odometer.