PeachPass Lane - Free but only to REGISTERED Bikes!

[kboehringer]

XS Southeast Friends,

Those of us that have to travel through the mess that is Atlanta know what a stressful experience that can be. It's crazy scary on a bike!

On my XS11 I will get into the Diamond lanes as quickly as possible and blast through the city. Being in the less traffic far left lane with only my right side to worry about and (unless there is a chunk of tire or other debris there) there is a small escape area to the left should an idiot pull out on me. The Diamond lanes are CLEARLY marked as Motorcycle "OK".

However, on the NorthSide (Gwinnett) and now the I-75 SouthSide corridor (McDonough to ATL) the lanes are PEACH PASS ONLY. They are not "Marked" as free for motorcycles and they are NOT free unless you have a PEACH PASS.

Motorcycles ARE EXEMPT if you HAVE a Peach Pass. If you get caught in the Peach Pass lane without the pass it is a HUGE fine. They will also take a Photo of you on your bike and MAIL you a ticket. OUCH!!!!

To get a FREE PeachPass call customer service. 1-855-PCH-PASS (724-7277) They will need: Name, Address, & Phone, Make, Model and Color of Bike, Tag#. They will send you a FREE transponder Pass in 7-10 days. I just ordered THREE for all my XS11s.

My Son and I are riding my XS11's through the city on our way to XSSE. The Peach Pass lane is a whole lot safer than the regular traffic lanes!!!!!

KURT

[madmax-im]

I rode the gauntlet known as the downtown connector on a sat a.m. and it was doable without using the HOV lane...Luckily there was only one stretch for a few miles where things got a little congested but it kept moving and I was able to make it through...It was a rush but i wouldnt want to repeat that anytime soon...CERTAINLY TIME OF DAY IS IMPORTANT!!! Being able to pick and choose your times through there are important in avoiding the serious gridlock and just plain azzholery of cagers commuting to work...
Personally if i never have to ride through there again..I wouldn't be the least bit disappointed...
Ride Safe Kurt,Nancy and Karl...Cant wait to see you all at XSSE...

[MPittma100]

Riding in Atlanta

There used to be a toll road on GA 400, north of downtown Atlanta. On more than one occasion, motorcycle riders (who had no pass) would get right near the cameras and do a wheelie. Thus blocking the license tag from the view of the camera. Pretty smart.

[madmax-im]

There used to be a toll road on GA 400, north of downtown Atlanta. On more than one occasion, motorcycle riders (who had no pass) would get right near the cameras and do a wheelie. Thus blocking the license tag from the view of the camera. Pretty smart.

or do what i have done...in Nc any vehicle that is 35+yrs of age can run any license plate so long as the year on the plate matches the year of productuon of the vehicle...You do have to have a fully legal NC plate to produce if necessary and it does have to be kept with the vehicle...but toll cams take a picture of an untraceable license plate...therefore no bill no ticket...but you do have to be careful not to make a habit of it...

[JeffH]

To get a FREE PeachPass call customer service. 1-855-PCH-PASS (724-7277) They will need: Name, Address, & Phone, Make, Model and Color of Bike, Tag#. They will send you a FREE transponder Pass in 7-10 days. I just ordered THREE for all my XS11s.

The Peach Pass lane is a whole lot safer than the regular traffic lanes!!!!!

KURT

Peach Lanes are variable toll depending on traffic volume. There is really no reason to be over in that lane in a bike anyways. It's quite dangerous i think. I sometimes do ride the HOV lane through downtown Atlanta but that has its own problems and major hazards. In those Peach Lanes you are referencing I've seen pricing as high as $12.00 to go 5 miles. If you ride the Peach Lane on AM 23rd it won't be any different that riding in the fast lane.

This isn't a woo-hoo thing. Just a way to turn 7 lanes in one direction into 8 lanes and then charge people that want to spend $15 bucks to go 40 mph instead of 25 mph. A revenue generation big brother thing. btw: not safer. More dangerous. 75mph to 0 in a nano-second doesn't leave much opportunity to stop and if you change lanes you get splattered anyways.

Jeff

[kboehringer]

Peach or not to Peach.....

If you ride the Peach Lane on AM 23rd it won't be any different that riding in the fast lane.

I always feel safer in the Diamond/HOV. I feel like I have one less area to be SPLATTERED from (the Left). I also don't have to worry about getting behind something I can't see around since trucks and cube vans are not permitted there. I don't like to EVER be behind a truck or cube van. If that guys isn't paying attention to the road conditions 1/2 mile ahead, I end up eating his butt.

Since the Peach Pass is the Diamond/HOV it's the only way to get far left away from the merging and exiting madness of right lanes which are full of trucks too. Since drivers are SUPPOSED to wait for the dashed lines to enter and exit HOV & PeachPass there is a SLIGHTLY less chance of being cut-off by those crazy &$%$#^ going from lane 7 to lane 1 in one fell swooooop.

Regardless, I HATE that ATL!

Karl mentioned today that according to his GPS it's 30 minutes faster going up GA400 and cutting across from there... Not sure about that as I KNOW my way up & through Gainesville having been up that way several times.... BUT, if YOU think GA400 is better for me.... I don't have to worry about Peach anyway.

KURT

[HalfCentury]

I drive to Atlanta for business once in a while and totally hate the traffic. Georgia Tech is a customer. The traffic to and from GA Tech is some of the worst I have been in including LA and DC.

I cannot imagine navigating Atlanta traffic on two wheels. I lived in Maryland for 20 years and never ventured into DC on two wheels.

[jetmechmarty]

Coming from south of ATL to XS Southeast? Take GA 400. It is the shortest route. Continue on US19 to US129.

[madmax-im]

There was alot of construction on GA400 and some stretches were down to one lane in each direction...this was last weekend......I thought i was still in ATL metro all the way to Cumming..so it seemed
Thanks to Jeff I avoided most of GA400...but had i not been with jeff my ride would have been much more boring and arduous...

[madmax-im]

Time of day is what I have always considered when driving through ATL metro. I will do anything to avoid the gridlock hours...I've been through there 6 times in the past couple years and only once was i caught in the wrong time of day...a Friday @ 5 pm...was on 285... as well good god what a freaking nightmare...

[3Phase]

If I run down to Nut'lanta before the rally, will I need a Peach Pass too so I don't get whacked?

[jetmechmarty]

If I run down to Nut'lanta before the rally, will I need a Peach Pass too so I don't get whacked?

Scott,
No, you do not. Forget all about it.

[JeffH]

If I run down to Nut'lanta before the rally, will I need a Peach Pass too so I don't get whacked?

Reality is:
it depends on what you want to hit how you want to get hit
like in some states, the helmet-no helmet choice -or- the ATGATT or shorts & flip-flop choice. It is a choice

peach pass puts you close up against the barrier so when there is an incident, the cyclist gets launched and flies over the barrier and gets hit by vehicles going the other direction. Like in any major metro area going down on 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 lane road is not going to be pretty anyways. Like going down on your 5, 405, 10, 110 its gonna be bad. no lane splitting here. lanes now so narrow you can't anyways. Could be argued that it really is a social engineering & behavioral modification plan for the future, with little to do about a commuters trip today.

-or- go down in one of the six other lanes and take your chances
Been some whopper motorcycle fatilities in the 10-15 miles of I-85 near where i live.

As I posted earlier, Peach Pass is just a way to turn HOV lanes in a revenue source. Let the masses (average Jane & Joe) sit in even more gridlocked traffic (even in a vehicle that meets HOV lane criteria, like 2 or more occupants) so an agency can collect funds from the Mercedes & BMW crowd that are willing to pay $5,$10, $20 a day to drive 15 miles at maybe 30 mph vs 0 in the gridlock.

Atlanta has a lot of Nascar style driving. 20 line conga, nose-to-tail going 85 up against the wall. Always expected to be bump-drafted but so far haven't. Not kidding Its the 85 to 0 in a nano-second that causes the almost daily 'big one'. Key is reading what's happening and snap the brain out of just pushing on. To not to be in the 'big one'.

Sure we've all see stuff like this in heavy volume traffic. 75mph reading a book. 75mph doing hair. 75 mph texting in rush hour traffic. NOT the safest place for a car, bus, semi or motorcycle. I'm not sure how the professional truckers keep their cool with all these insane & unsafe drivers.

Happy Travels,
Jeff

[JeffH]

city growth

btw trivia: i was just reading a report from the Atlanta long range planners that in their 25+ year plan they are planning & evaluating the impacts of permitting high rise & these new residential - biz complexes (like in many growing metros (DC & VA & MD & Dallas, Houston etc) to grow / add / accommodate 1.5 million more people into the City of Atlanta. Not the metro, 1.5M in the 'big ATL'. Like in the cities in Europe most of these people will not have a car, a place to store a car or even a motorcycle. Its all interesting stuff.

So the heck with all this. I'm going to Go Ride while i can. just hope the peach pass lane doesn't take me out but i'm feeling lucky today

I recommend you 'Go Ride' too.

Jeff

[3Phase]

Sounds like fnu!

The HOV lanes here get blocked almost as much as the regular lanes but, see, I like the diamond lanes and the possibility of getting launched over the hills and far away more than the others because there's usually someplace for a breakdown next to the wall without having to try and perch on top of it and there's usually a double or double-double yellow line creating a 'lane' to ride. Usually. When there isn't then we get the NASCAR syndrome too but at least we don't have those freaky cables/cheese slicers threaded through sawed-off telephone pole stumps set up on the medians.

If it really isn't posted then most of the locals are going to learn all about it but that Peach Pass almost sounds like a betrayal of interstate commerce purely to gather revenue from hapless travelers that don't know about the bogus rule book or the highwayman lurking at the end of the bridge with a radar gun.

Do y'all have lane restrictions for GVWR/number of axles or do you see big trucks and trailers in the HOV lanes down there? Truckers do lose their minds sometimes, we had one guy that started slamming cars somewhere around Los Banos on the I-5, then all the way into downtown LA -- a couple of hundred miles -- before he ran out of fuel. When they pulled him out of the cab and neatly stuffed him into the back of the patrol car all he kept saying was, "They wouldn't get out of my way!"