I hear many reports of where the chokepoints are. Yes, Gerlach is a leading contender as is Empire. Of course, since friendly relations with the Gerlach business community are important, it is going to be harder to fix this one by trying to make “don’t stop in Gerlach” rules.

I did come up with a solution to the question of people going north, who should indeed get a pass if the chokepoint is past that cutoff. (I think there’s another chokepoint at the turn onto the playa that can be solved with a temporary traffic light rather than a flagger.)

My solution is as follows:

• You can buy a exit pass for $20 plus a $300 deposit along with your ticket. At the gate your licence plate is written on it.
• You can then use this pass to get into the “going north only” quick exit lane. Bypass the line and zoom north.
• When you get to Cedarville, a local 24 hour business (7-11 or gas station) takes your pass, confirms your plate with a photo, and gives you back your deposit. This firm is also paid enough of the $20 to make it worth their while.
• The rest of the $20 pays for exodus staff to handle the special exit line and other costs.
• You can also redeem your pass on-playa and get a bit more money back if you decide not to use it.
• Your plate could also be written on your pass at exit, but I presume time is short. However, the date you left should be recorded so you can’t redeem a pass more than a day after leaving.

However, this only makes sense if there is a way to get the northern departures off the playa without increasing the bottleneck for southern departures.