The first detailed report on the new toll lanes at the Highway 237-Interstate 880 interchange has found increasing numbers of solo drivers are paying to use them and traffic delays have eased, even for drivers in the regular lanes.

The data is sure to be closely examined across the Bay Area, as more toll “express lanes” are being planned throughout the region. An express lane is in use on south Interstate 680 through Fremont and another will open on Interstate 580 in a year or so. Additional toll lanes are coming to highways 85 and 101 in the South Bay by 2016.

“The long and the short of it is that the 237-880 express lane has actually been performing better than anticipated,” VTA General Manager Michael Burns said. Burns and other transportation leaders have heard plenty of skepticism about the toll lanes, including suggestions that few drivers are willing to pay to use them, and fears that they will make traffic in adjacent lanes worse.

Staff workers for the Valley Transportation Authority made 240 trips along one of the Bay Area’s worst chokepoints and tracked the travel times of another 18,000 trips through Bluetooth readers. Since the toll plan went into effect March 20, solo drivers with FasTrak transponders can buy their way into the carpool lane for a price that varies by traffic levels, and has averaged $1.50 with a peak as high as $4.50.

Carpoolers, motorcyclists and owners of electric or alternative fuel-running vehicles with white or green carpool stickers ride in those lanes for free.

VTA officials believe toll use will continue to increase as the economy gathers steam in Silicon Valley and more commuters are on the road and stuck in awful traffic.

There were 9,098 solo drivers who took advantage of the toll lanes the week of April 16, up from the 7,608 who did so the first full week of operation in late March.

Revenues jumped to $14,300 from $11,800 over the same period.

Toll lane users are on average shaving 12 minutes off their morning commute from south I-880 past Dixon Landing Road onto west 237 at First Street, cutting what would have been an 18-minute drive to six minutes.

But there have been some minor problems: Travel times are slightly worse for carpoolers coming out of Milpitas and for those on the road after 9 a.m.

Reaction among motorists is mixed. Some say skirting the interchange used by around 325,000 drivers a day is worth a few dollars.

“I love it,” said Sonny Wong, of Fremont. “Who wouldn’t pay $1.50 to $2.35 to fly by the stop-stop-and-go traffic jam. The lanes are working.”

Kat Langan, of Fremont, who drove solo for 25 years before eagerly purchasing a FasTrak transponder, agreed. She says her morning drive into work off Lawrence Expressway is 20 minutes faster, and even quicker in the afternoon.

“Nice,” the grandmother of two said, adding that she had tried “every possible combination of surface streets, short cuts and side roads to avoid the bottlenecks of 237 and 880 over the years.”

And Earl Mitchell, of Hayward, said he has “noticed a big change since they first opened that express lane. A lot more people are using it now.”

But the biggest surprise is this: Drivers in the nontoll lanes are saving up to three minutes. Many feared that the changes — installation of the double white lines and extending the carpool hours on south 880 to west 237 to 10 a.m. — would make their commute worse. That seemed to happen when the toll lane opened on 680.

“It was terrible the first week or two after the changes,” said Marcie Lee, of Oakland. “But it seems to have settled down the past couple of weeks. The double-white striping keeps drivers from making late merges at Zanker Road out of the carpool lane. That used to really tick me off.”

Others aren’t buying it. They are convinced that the new rules have made conditions worse.

A big gripe: the number of drivers who illegally cross the double white lines to enter or exit the toll lanes.

“This scares the Jesus out of me,” said Bonnie Hayes, of San Leandro.

Many who say their commutes have gotten tougher are skipping 237-880 and finding other routes into work.

That’s what Prasad Koya, of Fremont, says he did after his commute became 20 minutes longer. He now exits 880 at Dixon Landing Road and takes McCarthy Ranch Boulevard to 237.

“I was surprised not to find long backups,” he said.

Jerold Lee, of Union City, is not happy that his post-9 a.m. commute is not as easy as before. On average, he says, it is taking five minutes longer.

“I am being penalized for being a solo driver as I am forced to have a longer commute than previously, as the toll lane is not even an option as I get off on Zanker Road,” he said. “That’s not fair. There should be some benefit for carpooling or if an individual is willing to pay, but the regular Joe should not be penalized.”

Contact Gary Richards at 408-920-5335.