Drivers of low- and zero-emission vehicles will soon have to pay to use express lanes on a congested stretch of highway in Santa Clara County, as other counties contemplate similar tolls.

The move to unclog traffic arteries that are supposed to zip and glide will begin on Highway 237, which snakes from Milpitas to the tech-campus-studded land of the Peninsula. Plug-in drivers who freely coast along that route may get a rude awakening next summer, when Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority extends the fast lanes from North First Street in San Jose to Mathilda Avenue in Sunnyvale — and charges clean-air cars a toll to use them.

Most likely, the toll rate will be half of what other single drivers pay, assuming the authority’s Board of Directors approves its current proposal in December. Barring that, electric and low-emission drivers could be stuck paying the full rate.

Some motorists are already bristling at the change, saying it will dampen sales of electric vehicles and prevent the state from reaching its environmental goals. One of the major perks of driving a low-emission vehicle is free access to carpool and express lanes that breeze past regular traffic.

“Overall, I’m against it,” said John Stringer, co-founder and president of Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley, a social club for fans of the luxury electric automobiles.

But transit officials say the toll is necessary to meet federal guidelines for express lanes, which also serve buses, tech shuttles and cars with two or more people. And Santa Clara County isn’t alone. Early next year, Los Angeles will start charging an 85 percent toll for clean-air vehicles to use fast lanes on the 110 and 10 freeways.

Alameda and Contra Costa counties are expected to follow suit in 2020, with tolls on interstates 580 in the Tri-Valley, 680 in the San Ramon Valley, and 880 from Oakland to Milpitas. Clean-air drivers will also pay a half-price toll on the future Highway 101 express lanes in San Mateo, scheduled to open in 2021.

In many senses, it’s a sign of success for zero-emission vehicles — particularly in places like Silicon Valley, where mass-produced versions like Tesla’s Model 3 are popular among middle-class drivers. But that also means that too many solo drivers are taking advantage of free fast lanes. Traffic is so sluggish on some roads that officials worry about losing funding from the Federal Highway and Transportation Administration, which requires express lanes to zoom at 45 miles per hour 90 percent of the time.

Highway 237 express lanes Where: From Milpitas south of Dixon Landing Road west to Mathilda Avenue in Sunnyvale. When: 5 a.m.-8 p.m., weekdays. Who can use: Vehicles with two or more occupants, motorcycles, vehicles with Clean Air decals and solo drivers who pay a toll. Tolls: 30 cents to $8 How it works:All drivers using the express lanes on Highway 237 need a FasTrak transponder. Carpools can switch it to the 2 or 3+ setting to denote how many people are in the vehicle. Clean-air vehicles seeking a discount should register with FasTrak. Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority will install license plate cameras to catch cheaters, similar to the ones on Bay Area bridges.

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“From a transportation and mobility perspective, we need to keep these lanes moving,” said Barbara Laurenson, a project manager at the Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission. In this case, she said, two laudable goals — boosting sales of fuel-efficient vehicles and easing congestion in express lanes — “are in competition.”

So Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority will set new rules along its east-west connector, which sends commuters to Facebook, Samsung, LinkedIn, Google, Microsoft and Lockheed Martin. Buses and carpools roll along Highway 237’s express lanes for free, and solo drivers pay via a FasTrak transponder. Toll rates start at 30 cents and go as high as $8, depending on the flow of traffic. When VTA opens the next segment, it will also install license-plate-reading cameras to catch cheaters.

The new tolls for fuel-efficient cars and trucks — combined with fines from violators —will cover the cost of operating that whole corridor, said VTA spokeswoman Brandi Childress.

She views the 50 percent clean-air vehicle discount as a fitting compromise, and a potential solution to the statewide express-lane quandary.

“California has been really good about trying to promote clean-air vehicles and meet its zero emission goals,” Childress said. But the gains on that front are hindering another objective — to get more people into fewer cars. People who buy fuel-efficient vehicles aren’t necessarily inclined to carpool, she added.

Chipping away at a long-held benefit isn’t easy, and not everyone on Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s board supports the new toll.

One board member, Mountain View City Councilman John McAlister, said it doesn’t go far enough. He argued that zero-emission vehicles shouldn’t get any discount whatsoever.

“If our goal is to get mass transit moving effectively, then we should get all single-occupancy vehicles — no matter what kind — out of these lanes,” said McAlister, who voted against the rules when they came before the VTA board earlier this month.

Other observers see the urgency to thin out congestion and encourage carpooling, but fear that electric-car owners may perceive this as punishment.

“The transition is hard, because consumers don’t want a bait-and-switch,” said former state Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills (Los Angeles County), who introduced the 2004 law to give plug-in vehicles free access to carpool lanes.

“It’s like you make an investment for one reason, and then the rules change,” Pavley said.

She noted that Gov. Jerry Brown set an aggressive goal to get 5 million zero-emission vehicles on the roads by 2030, a steep jump from the 369,300 pure electrics and plug-in hybrids registered in California as of May. Getting there will be difficult, Pavley said, especially if transit agencies start cutting back inducements.

“I do feel a bit cheated,” said Sameer Advani, co-founder of Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley. He lives in Santa Clara and drives along Highway 237 to get to his gym in Milpitas.

Still, Advani and Stringer acknowledged that 50 percent off is better than nothing. So far, transit agencies have no plans to eliminate the clean-air discounts altogether. Even a partial toll caused dissension in most cities.

“Our crystal ball only goes as far as the 50 percent discount,” said Laurenson of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. “And then we’ll see how that’s going long term.”

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @rachelswan